Vincent sighs. He stands up and pats my head. "Next time you have a problem, I'd prefer you not to take it to Peter. You shouldn't bother him."
I give Vincent a concerned look, "B-Bother him? But. I've always talked to Peter." I stammer.
"Well you either stop talking to him or I'll make sure he won't ever talk to you again." Vincent says, a bit harshly.
He's done this before. Why didn't I remember before now? I knew Vincent had a temper. Didn't I?
Vincent walks out the door, leaving me dumbfounded and beyond confused.
What's going on? Why am I missing memories? What happened to my mom? Why was she looking for me and most importantly why did she die?
I get off the bed and go into my bathroom. Who can I ask for answers? I'm close to Andrew, Salvation and Ben. But Andy and Sal are too loyal to Vincent. Not only would I not get my answers but they'd be likely to tell Vincent that I'm prying. And I don't want him to know. Ben? I could talk to Ben. Aside from Peter, Ben is one of my closest friends. I take a deep breath, nodding at myself in the mirror. I'm going to talk to Ben.
I take another moment to look at myself, how sad I look in my nightgown. I haven't taken a shower the past two days so my red hair is greasy and untamed. I haven't put any makeup on, but why would I? Vincent closed down the restaurant this week so no one but him and my friends have seen me.
I leave the bathroom and turn all the lights out before opening the door to find Peter standing on the other side. He frowns, his arms crossed. "What exactly did you tell Vincent?"
"I-I didn't say anything. I think maybe Franky told him we'd been talking," I say a bit defensive. Peter isn't normally mad at me, even when Vincent yells at him. Maybe Vincent threatened him like he did to me; telling me we weren't allowed to talk anymore.
"So you didn't tell him that you're suspecting him as your mother's killer?" His voice softens and he leans down closer to me.
"No. Why would I tell him that I think it was him?" I ask, a little concerned. "You didn't tell him, right?"
Peter frantically shakes his head, ruffling his curly red hair, "No, of course not. I just wanted to make sure you didn't, cause I don't want you to get hurt."
"Why would I get hurt?" I frown, "Vincent wouldn't hurt me, even if he did kill my mom, he'd never hurt me. That preposterous, why would you even think that?" I say defensively and push past him to head down the hall.
"Do you even hear yourself, Alex? Do you not understand how much control he has over you?" Peter almost yells out to me.
I turn around and look at him through the dimly lit hall. "I am my own person, I can make my own decisions, Peter. No one else has any control over me, so don't you ever say that he's in control. Besides, I don't mind listening to him sometimes." I say. I leave this time, ignoring Peter's demanding voice, begging me to listen to him. How insane he is to think that I'm being controlled by someone else.
I head up the stairs into the main auditorium in the restaurant, the tables are all pushed back to the walls with the chairs sitting on top, except for the one table in the middle of the room since that's where the guys tend to hang out. It smells like cleaning alcohol. Which is nice since it's been so dirty in here lately. I hear a soft whistle come from the stage. I look up and see Cathy all dressed up in a maid's uniform, holding a duster and a carton of alcohol wipes. I smile, "Hey, Cathy."
She smiles back, "Hey, Alex. Seems you slept in, today."
I nod, "Yea, I didn't really see a need to get out of bed, it's not like I have any work to do right now."
Cathy giggles. She has a very girly demeanor to her, she always looks so pretty and dolled up. She's always dressed for every occasion, whether its waitressing, playing games, or like now, wearing a maid's uniform like one you see in cartoons. Her short blonde hair is done up in a ponytail. She's even wearing short black heels and long stockings to go with the outfit.
"It's only for one week, Alex," Cathy says, coming down off the stage, "You can spend this time to do something, or hang out with someone-"
"Hang out with someone?" I interrupt. "Don't I already hang out with all of you?"
She gives me a suspicious smile then laughs, "Oh Alex, you're not that oblivious, are you? Not only are you like, one of the prettiest girls I've ever met, but you must be one of the stupidest too!" She exclaims, leading me over to the table and sitting with me. "There are at least three guys that I know are crazy about you."
"About me?" I ask, "Why?"
She gently hits my head with the back of her hand. "Did you not here me? Not only are you gorgeous but you're talented. How would they not like you?"
I take a second. This is a new thought to me. Someone likes me? I don't think I've ever actually wanted to be in a relationship with anyone. And I believe-unofficially-that Vincent and I are a couple, but maybe I'm reading it wrong. "Who are the three guys?" I ask, looking over Cathy's perky face.
She leans a bit closer to me, "Vincent is the obvious one. He's very protective of you and always seems to be by your side. Then Peter for sure. He is always following and lingering where you are and is always talking about you like he's worried. And Andrew. Like I don't know if it's you he really likes or if he really just likes looking at you, but I've never seen a guy stare at a girl so long."
I roll my eyes, "I don't think they really like me. Peter and I are very close but there's nothing that says he likes me, or that I've noticed. And just cause he worries about me doesn't mean he has any feelings for me. And Andrew looks and stares at you the same so he's probably just a pervert. Then Vincent? He's never tried anything, I think he's just taking care of me." I say. I honestly don't think that anything is going on with Peter and Andrew towards me. I would know, wouldn't I?
"Ah, you are dumb," Cathy says, teasingly and pushes on my shoulder with her hands. She looks me over real quick, "You're still in your nightgown?"
I nod, "I also haven't taken a shower, or done makeup." I smile.
She grimaces, scrunching her pointy nose, "No wonder your hair's a mess. Why don't we go get you bathed and dressed up?" She asks and grins.
I sigh and shake my head, "No need. I'm actually looking for Ben" I say. "I need to tell him something."
"Ben is in the conference room with Vincent and Salvation. Sounds like they needed to discuss something serious, Salvation was very intent on it." She says.
I look down at the table. Well I can't talk to him if he's with them. Nor would I be able to grab him when they're done, there's no way Vincent would let me talk to him alone if he knew I wanted to talk to Ben in private. Or we could listen in to what they're conversation is. We can't get in trouble if we don't get caught. I smirk, "Why don't we go eavesdrop," I say, boldly.
Cathy almost jumps out of her sear in excitement, "Oh yes! Like spies!" She gets up in a hurry, "Let me get out of the dress and I'll join you! Go wait for me!" She shouts as she takes off down the hall to her room.
I smile and head around behind the stage to where the conference room is. The door is ajar, so I sit down a little ways down the hall to listen. Vincent's always told me I have amazing hearing abilities. Let's see if I can actually make out what they're saying.
Right now their voices are lowered. But I can tell they're upset.
"No, that's not a good idea," I hear Vincent's voice say coldly. I don't normally see him interact with the other guys. I honestly haven't heard them interact a whole lot either, aside from Vincent yelling at Peter on occasion. I know they hang out but it's never while they're here. Usually Vincent will head out with Andrew and Sal when he goes places.
"But if she knows, then she won't be suspicious of you," Salvation says.
"If she knows she'll hate me. We've done it before, multiple times, and each time she wanted to leave." Vincent's voice raises a bit.
"Well maybe she should leave, then!" I hear Ben butt in.
"I don't want her too." Vincent protests.
"She doesn't have to stay," Salvation responds.
Who in the world are they talking about? Cathy? Are they talking about Cathy? I don't think there's any other girls here. Are they talking about me? Why would I leave?
"Yes, she does!" Vincent says.
"I want you to tell her, Vince. Tell her the truth again, and then leave it! I don't want you messing with her head anymore. The more you mess with the less of Alex she is. She was amazing before you started screwing things up." Salvation says.
They are talking about me. But what does Salvation mean? Messing with my head? Does it have something to do with my fuzzy memories?
"You don't get a say in this, Salvation," Vincent snaps.
"Yes, I do, she's my sister!" Salvation yells.
My heart pounds, Salvation is my brother? My brother who went psychotic and disappeared? He's been here this whole time? How come I didn't recognize him? I should know what my brother looks like.
"And you let me do this. You helped me, remember, Sal? You gave me permission to do what I did. Are you changing your mind?" Vincent asks.
"I look at her and I don't see my sister anymore, Vincent. I said you could change her, but not as much as you did. I had a line and you crossed it. The last month you've taken away almost all of her personality. I want my sister back. Whether or not she wants to stay is up to her. You've done enough damage." Salvation says.
I feel someone press up against me and the wall. I turn my head and see Cathy, dressed in a body suit. Looking like a spy. "So, what's going on?"
I put my index finger to my lips, telling her to be quiet. I don't want them to know I'm out here. It sounds like Vincent is hiding something from me. And what does Sal mean by change me? What's changed?
"She can't leave!" Vincent shouts.
"Why not?" Ben and Sal yell back.
"Because, she doesn't understand what she is anymore. And what if someone notices her?" Vincent says defensively.
"It's been eight years, Vince, no one is going to notice her, let alone recognize her." Ben says.
Did Vincent change my appearance? What do they mean recognize? Is someone looking for me?
"You should at least explain some of it to her so that she knows why we're going to need to put her in hiding tomorrow." Ben says.
"I was going to have you guys take her with you into the bunker, then erase the memories when she comes out. Or sedate her and leave her with you guys." Vincent says, his voice softening again.
"That's not fair to her. You need to tell her something. Not even all of it. You don't have to mention that day. Honestly, I don't even care if you make up a story like she was sick or something and that's why you had to make her a cyborg. You don't have to say anything about why you did what you did, or even how." Ben says.
I'm a WHAT? My chest feels tight, and I can't breathe. I can't believe what I just heard. I'm a cyborg?
"Who are they talking about?" Cathy asks, whispering.
I look at her and her eyes widen, "Are you okay, Alex? You're pale."
"Did you hear that?" I hear Vincent ask.
I hastily grab Cathy's arm and we run down the hall. But I hear Vincent call for me.
We get to the end of the hall and Cathy pulls me into the janitor closet, locking the door. "What the hell just happened?" She asks, turning to look at me.
I shrink into the corner. My eyes staring at the door. "I-I'm not sure." I stammer.
"You're not sure? Who were they talking about? Alex, you need to tell me what's going on? Who's a cyborg?" She asks frantically.
I look up at her, she looks scared. She thinks it's her. We're the only two girls here. She has a right to worry. I take a deep breath, "Me. They were talking about me. Apparently Vincent's been keeping secrets. They all have..." my voice trails off for a moment, "Salvation is my brother. I'm a cyborg. And Vincent has changed my memories." I say blandly. I wonder how much of those memories are actually true. Did my dad really die when I was little? Did Salvation go crazy?
My thoughts are interrupted by violent knocks on the door. Cathy immediately backs into the corner with me.
"Alex! Open the door!" I hear Salvation yell.
I shudder out a breath. "Why?!"
"I need to talk to you." He says. When I don't respond, he sighs. "Look. I don't know what you heard, but you need to come out and listen to us."
"So what, Vincent can take my memories away? Or so you guys can sedate me and put me in a bunker? When were you going to tell me you were my brother? Or, I don't know, the fact that I'm a cyborg?!" I shout angrily. "I'm not coming out! I don't trust you! Any of you! How long were you going to keep those secrets! How long were you planning on lying to me!"
"Alex, there's some things you don't understand. There's reasons for all of this. Please, come out of the closet and listen to us. I promise, I won't let him mess with you like that again. You have questions? We're going to answer each of them." He says.
I can tell he's being truthful by the sound of his voice. But do I really want to know what's happened to me? Or am I being lied to again and I'm going to walk right into a trap. I feel like this has all happened before, but I can't remember when or how.
"Please, Alex."
I stand out of the corner, grabbing Cathy's hand and open the door. "Fine. But you promise you won't let him mess with my memories anymore?" I ask softly.
Salvation nods, "I promise. It's not fair that he does. I don't want him to anymore.'
I look down at the ground, watching Salvation's feet as he leads the way back to that conference room. Vincent is pacing when we walk in but he stops when he sees me. "How much did you hear?"
I shrug, "Enough to know not to trust you." I say, trying my best to be bold. But honestly, I'm scared. I thought I could trust him, i really did. But I don't want to trust him anymore. I just want to know what happened. "I want to know why you changed my memories."
"To protect you," he says, taking a step towards me, but I move away. "You don't understand."
"Then help me understand, Vincent." I say, raising my voice. "Tell me what you did. I'll try to understand."
Vincent sighs, backing away from me a few steps. "When we were young, Salvation and I were allowed to go to work with our parents. Your parents and mine worked at a chemical plant out in the middle of nowhere. When Salvation and I were there, we were about ten. You were four. We were very rowdy kids, and we got into things that we shouldn't have. We managed to cause the building to explode, killing everyone but us somehow. When I woke up, I felt older, and I became smarter. Whereas Salvation went crazy. He turned into a psychopath. Who knew a ten year old could cause so much damage."
"What about my mother? Did she die too?" I ask.
"No, she was sick and stayed home to watch you."
"She was heartbroken when the police came and told her that both me and dad had died in the plant explosion." Salvation says.
"But you didn't die." I point out.
Salvation smiles, "No, but I knew that I was dangerous, so I stayed away from you and mom."
"And he came to stay with me," Vincent says. "After my father's death, my uncle took me in. He owned the restaurant. I took on a job here since I graduated at age 12. When my uncle passed, I inherited the restaurant and became the youngest restaurant owner known to man. I kept everything up and have always passed all inspections done."
"How did I become involved?" I ask.
Vincent and Salvation look at each other for a moment. Vincent looks hesitant to tell me. But I just want to know. Vincent looks at me again, an almost sad look on his face. "Salvation always talked about you. I became obsessed. I wanted to meet you, since I'd fallen in love with you from his stories. Then you had started coming to my restaurant because your mother liked the food. One day you left a plushy and I decided I'd return it to you, which gave me an excuse to talk to you. You were about eight or nine, then. I kept making reasons to go back and see you, but I realized you didn't like me. I think you were scared of me. I didn't quite fit into your age of friends and you didn't pay much attention while I was there, but your mom liked me."
"But how did I end up here? I have foggy memories of my mom going insane and giving me to you to take care of," I say, "Is that true?"
Vincent shakes his head, looking at Salvation again, "I uh. I wanted you to come stay with me. I wanted to have you close. But your mother wouldn't let me try to romance you since I was so much older. And I got mad. So I just took you."
"You kidnapped me?" I ask, a little unsettled. He talks like it's okay. That it's okay that he just took me away from my home. That it's okay he developed those kind of feelings for me and he acted on them. It's not okay. Why would this ever be okay? I take a few more steps back, wanting distance.
Vincent glances at me then looks back at the ground. "You hated me." He says blankly, "You were scared of me because I took you. you were only ten and you wanted to be home, with your mom. I got so mad. I realized as long as you were scared of me that you'd never fall in love with me."
"So we made a plan," Salvation says. "We would change you. We would make it so that we could control your emotions. But that didn't work. The first time you woke up after we'd upgraded you, we made it so that your emotions would cause you to love Vincent. But you fought it."
"And every time you fought the programming, you got hurt," Vincent adds, "The electronic part of you was killing the real you. So we decided to turn you off and find a way to get rid of the memories you had, to alter them in a way where I wasn't the bad guy."
Salvation nods, "And that's what we did. We went through the programming, and put a chip into your head. But we only made things more complicated. You were so in love with Vincent, you two were inseparable. But when he wasn't around you would remember. You'd remember what happened and you'd hate him again, so every time he'd come back from a trip or from the store, he would have to fight you just to get you back where you were."
I look over at Vincent, "You forced me to be in love with you?"
He doesn't look back at me, "I had no other choice."
"Then what about my mom?" I ask, upset.
Vincent looks up at me, worried this time. "What do you mean?"
"Did you kill her?" I ask.
Vincent frowns, he looks at Ben then Salvation, "Who told her?" He looks at me, "Who the hell put that idea into your head?" He starts walking towards me and I back up just as quick.
Salvation gets between us, "Cool it, Vince. No one told her, she's just smarter than you think she is."
Vincent looks at me, over Salvation's shoulder. "She was too nosy." He growls, turning and walking away again, "The police had searched me and the restaurant when you went missing cause your mother thought I had something to do with it. Then they left it for almost six years, and then last year she comes back in. She had proof. She'd found proof that I'd taken you, and she was going to turn me in and take you back. So yes, I killed her."
My body freezes, "You did?"
He looks at me over his shoulder, "You satisfied now? Or do you have more questions?"
I look at the door, "I want to leave..." I say softly, grabbing onto Sal's sleeve, "Please, lets go, Sal."
Vincent closes the door harshly, "You're not allowed to leave!"
Salvation grabs me and backs up, "We're not going anywhere, Vince." He says.
I look at Salvation. He seems scared. Why is he scared, he's bigger than Vincent. Taller and stronger looking. Why would he be afraid of Vincent.
Vincent's breathing heavily, he opens the door, "I want you to go to your room, Alex. I'll come down and talk to you in a little bit," he says, pointing to the hall.
Salvation lets go slowly as I move away. I look at Salvation, but he looks worried. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to have Vincent tell me our past. I used to think he was smart and mentally sound. He's not. I actually saw how insane Vincent is. He seemed to care when he started taking, but the more he talked the more selfish he became.
Now I'm scared he'll hurt someone or come down and take away my memories again.
I shouldn't have been eaves dropping outside that door.