Chapter 4
Mme was family, the Thompsons, were vacationing for a werk with their son, and not once did my father call to check on me
On their final day away, Dad finally remembered my existence, but my phone was already unreachable. By then, Ed arrived at the research facility in Las Vegas and began the isolation project
Dad stared at his
his phone, confined ~Why isn’t Emma anwering?“||
“She’s probably working one of her three jobs, Mom replied. “She mentioned picking up extra shifts, remember? She must be busy ”
Ded fremmed säghtly. “Are we being too hard on her? When I think shout Jaron, then look at Emma–they’re the same age, but her life is a much harder.“]]
But Emma’s Independent. S
She can support herself at this age without us worrying, shout her. You should be proud,” Mom countered.||
Dad nodded, convincing himself she was right.
sul, when they returned home, something felt off
“Why hasnt Emma cleaned the house? Mom asked.
Qur house near the train tracks needed daily cleaning to combat the constant dist
J
Tables and floor were vishly coated in a layer of grime.
The
“It’s fair,” had said. “Maybe she was tired. When she gets home, we’ll tell her about the bonus we received so she doesnt have to work so hard.“]]
Toure getting so on her. Mon gave him a suspicious look!
- Anyway, let’s clean up. We only tested her about leaving this time. She probably didn’t believe us since being busy on Christmas
Of course I care–she’s my daughter so is pretty ridiculous.“]
ston shrugged damissively.
But when she walked into my room and saw the photo on my nightstad, she froze.||
Robert! Come here now! Something’s wrong
Dad rushed in One look at Jason’s photo and he understood immediately.
“When did she go to the mansion?”
I don’t know. Call her again, quickly.
with my phone still unreachable, they had no choice but to call jasne.||
When be answered, he admined everything “She showed up a week ago. 1 told her you guys pih effort into raising her. Why? la she complaining to you?”
Dad exploded. “Who told you to talk to her? She’s gone–we can’t reach her!–]]
A week. He should have realized something was wrong sooner. Before, whenever they left, rd always check in, asking when they be back, if they’d eaten
Not a single message this time. That should have been the red flag |
On the other end, jason sounded completely unconcerned. “Isnt her disappearance a good thing? You raised her pour case she was my “ertuin,” right was her
bund, I couldn’t have ing best life. ~||
от at everyonet
Remember what Dr. Sumpton said? You couldn’t bear to get rid of her, but now she’s gone on her own your only child now–hat this perfect
had was furious but speechless. Mam dissolved to tears. “What do we do? Enums must have dinnered everything. We lied to her for so long–she must hate wit
I didn’t hate denct puuply had no time to think about it
wat in the lab malyzing data, running experiment after experiment with disappointing results.
Surrounded by test tubes
es and equipment day and night, I was completely unreachable.||
No wonder Mom couldn’t get through
