Thanks
Chapter 24
It felt like one more day in the drama of her life. Of being in a family of spies. Of having a father who was once a murderer and terrorist. Of growing up in an orphanage and always wanting that man, the murderer, to come save her and love her. Of wanting a sister.
She got a sister.
She loved that sister.
That sister murdered her father.
There was no use wiping away the glossy tears that streaked her face. They kept falling, berating her face in a waterfall of sorrowful emotions. Her red puffy eyes, filled with loss, continued to watch the highway roads as the stretching of ocean in the distance filled up with the sunny reflections of the California sky. The sun pierced into her body as if it were trying to revive her from the numbing storm she felt. She couldn't be revived. She couldn't be touched as the heavy rain inside bogged her down. The rain stretching down her face, clouding her eyes and her mind. Nadia felt truly lost.
Eventually Nadia pulled into Summerland and onto the long stretch of Lillie Avenue. She had no idea how far up the road the cafe that Sydney's car was parked out front of was, so she kept her eyes wide and searching. Eventually she noticed a white Victorian house with an American flag flying high out front. There was a sign that said Summerland Beach Cafe on it. As she pulled into a parking space amongst many empty ones, she noticed it was closed for the evening.
Nadia sat in her car for a moment as she wiped away the tears and gathered in a deep breath. As she let it out, she stared forward, her eyes glazed over, as her emotions brewed within. Swallowing hard, she composed herself and got out of the car. As she stood up, she noticed a silver sedan at the other end of the empty stretch of parking spaces.
Immediately, a distraught-looking Sydney arose from the car, her gaze staring deep into Nadia's eyes. She quickly moved towards Nadia and gathered her into an emotional hug with her tight grasp.
"Thank you," Sydney said in an exacerbated whisper, "Thank you for coming."
Nadia let Sydney continue hugging her tight for a few moments as she tried to gather herself. Taking in a deep breath, she pulled out of the hug and looked deeply at Sydney as if she were trying to read the whole situation from Sydney's eyes, eyes that stared forward at her in a desperate attempt to find hope. There was a silent moment between them.
A disjointed smile crept up on Sydney's face as she peered at Nadia, not realizing the torment she had put her through. Sydney could only feel her own torment and try to find hope in the fact that she finally had someone there standing in front of her. Someone tangible. She wasn't alone. Sydney relished in that idea, looking at Nadia with the ideal light of a saviour amidst the horrible storm.
Finally, Nadia broke the silence, "Sydney..." She tried to find the words, but honestly, she didn't know what to say.
Suddenly, Sydney cut in, "Not here."
"Oh, right. We should go somewhere. Maybe a motel?"
"Yes. I think... yeah, there's one on Ortega Hill Road. I saw a sign coming into town. Let's go there." Nadia nodded and headed towards her car. "Wait, let's take mine." Sydney said stopping her.
"Okay," Nadia replied, a little thrown by the idea.
"Come on," Sydney told Nadia with impatience. They quickly got into Sydney's car and drove towards the motel.
Nadia felt uncomfortable as they drove. Both of them were silent, not really knowing what to say at this point. Sydney's mind was enveloped in what she was doing. She felt she needed to get them somewhere private before she was spotted by anyone.
As she sat there, Nadia spied over at Sydney. Sydney's clothes were dirty, and her hair a mess. It was apparent that she hadn't groomed for the two whole days she had been missing. And she was noticeably frazzled as she sped along the street. Nadia felt a worried curiosity as the what had been going on inside of her, why she left, what she's been doing, what made her kill Nadia's father.
"Wait here," Sydney said as she pulled into the inn. She grabbed some cash out of her bag and headed towards the office.
As Nadia waited there, she felt her cell phone vibrating in her bag. Pulling it out, she noticed that it was Eric. She wanted to answer it but she told Sydney she wouldn't tell anyone where she was. Nadia felt a need to uphold that promise. It was her sister after all. Nadia couldn't betray her.
Noticing Sydney quickly heading back to the car, Nadia shoved her cell phone back into her bag. Sydney motioned for her to come, as she held up the keys and pointed towards their room, which was situated on the first floor, a couple rooms past the car.
As they headed into the room, Sydney locked the door behind them, and closed the partially opened curtain. She sat down on the bed and immediately buried her head in her hands. After a moment, Sydney took a deep breath and looked up at Nadia who had been standing there with a worried look on her face.
"I'm sorry," Sydney said as a tear formed in her eye.
"Sydney, I don't understand what happened?" Nadia started, "You need to tell me."
"Its a long complicated story, Nadia." Sydney said as she rubbed her face in exhaustion.
"Sydney, I need to know," Nadia insisted with a hint of emotion brewing behind her voice. Sydney immediately looked into Nadia's eyes and saw her confusion.
"Its The Guildiya. Sloane, he is... was there leader. I had no choice but to eliminate him before he carried out his plans," Sydney said, shaking her head.
"My father was the head of The Guildiya?" Nadia said in disbelief.
"Yes."
"He can't be. Sydney, how do you know this? What... What intel do you have? I need to know the truth."
"Nadia," Sydney started, looking pointedly into her eyes, "I know." Her eyes were filled with an unbroken confidence.
"How?!" Nadia exclaimed.
"You wouldn't believe me if you knew my source. But I assure you, he was."
"Sydney, tell me!"
"Sark."
"Sark?" Nadia's confusion grew.
"Yes. He works for The Guildiya. He came and told me Sloane's plan. He was going to use this Rambaldi device to incinerate APO."
"Sydney, that's crazy!" Nadia replied gruffly. "My father would never do that."
"He did once. What makes you think he wouldn't again?"
"He's changed. Sydney, I know you don't trust him. But I do. He's my father. He was my father until..." Nadia choked on her words. She couldn't bare to say it, "until you killed him." Tears began to stream down Nadia's face.
"Nadia, I had to! You need to listen to me. I had to do it!"
"No. It makes no sense!"
"He would have killed us all!" Sydney yelled back, her eyes filled with a stubborn fury.
"You're wrong!"
"I'm not wrong!" Sydney said with a furiously low tone. "I know the truth."
"How?! How can you know the truth. How can Sark be your source? He can't work for The Guildiya. He's in prison."
"No, that's his double. Project Helix."
"Sydney, your making no sense."
"Nadia, I need you to trust me. I did what I did to save us all."
"No," Nadia replied shaking her head.
"Yes," Sydney said calmly, as she got up off the bed and walked over to Nadia. She put her hand on Nadia's shoulder in comfort. "I'm sorry. I know the truth is hard."
Nadia looked up at Sydney with her tear filled eyes. As she looked into Sydney's own eyes, she tried to burry her anger. Her eyes portrayed a stubborn fury, an insistence and utter belief that she was right. They were fraught with paranoia over The Guildiya and Sloane. And behind the tears, her eyes shined with fear and broken sanity. Looking at Sydney, she realized how right Jack and Vaughn were. Sydney was sick and she needed to help her. She had to stop fighting with her and get her home.
"Sydney, you're right," Nadia said in a calmed voice.
"I knew you'd believe me." Sydney replied with a hopeful smile.
"Look at me, I'm a mess from crying. I should go have a shower. It might be soothing." Nadia said with a tired but upbeat face.
"Of course." Sydney said, smiling at her warmly. Nadia quickly went into the bathroom and locked the door behind her. Without taking her clothes off, she turned the shower on and pulled out her cell phone, pressing a number on her speed dial.
"Hello?" a man's voice answered.
"Jack," she replied in a whisper. "I've found her."
Chapter 25
Sydney sat on the bed of the motel room while Nadia showered. She had a sinking feeling in her stomach that everything was about to go wrong. Worried, she went and looked out the window, peering around at the parking lot to see if there were any cops outside, anyone watching their room. She couldn't see anyone. Still, she felt unsettled. It was a feeling she had been plagued with most of the time in the last few weeks actually, and she was never quite sure what to think of it, whether to trust her instincts or not. She just felt like people were out to get her, to capture her and torture her and kill her violently. Her mind was burdened by these thoughts most of the day.
As Sydney stood at the window, she suddenly had a thought. She looked towards the bathroom. Why did Nadia so adamantly need a shower? She wasn't dirty. She wasn't all sweaty and sticky. She was dressed in fine work clothes that were only slightly wrinkled. Sydney felt suddenly suspicious of her.
Sydney quickly went up to the bathroom door and placed her ear up against the door. Amidst the water running, she thought she could vaguely hear a voice talking. Suddenly a feeling of stupidity came over her, enthralled over her. How could she trust Nadia so easily? She was surely working with Vaughn and her father.
A crushing pain fell upon Sydney's stomach. The only person she had, Nadia, was in the bathroom right now betraying her, giving her up so she could be imprisoned, or held captive in a hospital by people so adamantly assuming she was insane. Suddenly, all the thoughts of betrayal dissipated as she realized she had to take action.
Turning the handle of the bathroom door, Sydney noted it was locked. She could just leave now. Take the car and run, she thought. But once they got to Nadia, she would join forces with them to help capture her. No, Sydney had to take Nadia with her. Grabbing her gun that was tucked in the pack of her pants, Sydney started to think of a plan to get Nadia out of the bathroom.
Suddenly, Sydney yelled out loudly, "Oh my God!" A few seconds later, Nadia emerged from the bathroom with a worried look on her face.
"Sydney, what's wrong?" She asked with fraught concern.
Suddenly, Sydney lunged at her and pulled her to the ground, sticking her gun in Nadia's face.
"Sydney?!" Nadia cried out, "What are you doing?!"
"I know what you were doing in there," Sydney replied gruffly.
"What are you talking about Sydney?" Nadia asked, realizing inside that her plan had backfired.
"You called them!" Sydney said harshly, continuing to point her gun at Nadia's frightened glare.
"Sydney, stop! I was just trying to help you. You're sick. You need help. That's all I want-" Nadia pleaded as she was cut off by Sydney's grave voice.
"I am not insane," she growled, her eyes furious, her face reddening with rage.
"Please stop!" Nadia continued to plead, seeing that Sydney truly wasn't herself. She worried Sydney had become dangerous as she saw the look of madness in her eyes.
"Shut up!" Sydney screamed harshly as she whacked the gun hard into Nadia's forehead.
It wasn't enough to knock Nadia unconscious, but she was certainly shaken by it. She just stared at Sydney in horror for how sick she had become.
"Get up!" Sydney commanded, as she pulled Nadia's arm, forcing her to rise. "Don't try anything." Sydney said in a low tone, as they headed out to the car, a gun concealed at Nadia's back. As she forced Nadia into the passenger's seat, she dug out some plastic binding from the glove compartment and bound up Nadia's hands. Sydney then proceeded to get into the car herself, and sped out of the parking lot, driving recklessly around the corner and onto the street as a car swerved out of her way.
"Where are we going?" Nadia asked quietly.
"I can't believe you would do this to me," Sydney exclaimed, a few tears in her eyes.
"I just want to help you. Maybe if we get you to Dr. Jain, he can reverse this and you can go back to normal."
"You don't know what your talking about. I saved your life. I saved all of your lives!" Sydney said spitefully.
"You killed my father!" Nadia replied harshly.
"I had to. Why won't anyone believe me?!"
"Because its not true Sydney. My father wasn't part of The Guildiya, he wasn't a threat."
"Yes he was!" she screamed furiously as her eyes flashed with rage. She quickly swerved around the corner and up a more secluded road.
"You don't know where you are going do you?" Nadia asked pointedly, "You have no plan. You should just stop now before you do something you will regret."
"I know what I'm doing. I always know what I'm doing," Sydney replied trying to appear confident amidst the crumbling of her own mind. She had no idea what she was doing. She was just driving somewhere, anywhere. She had to find somewhere where they wouldn't find her.
"I love you. Why can't you see I'm just trying to help you," Nadia said warmly, though with fear and deep concern in her eyes.
Sydney looked at her deeply for a moment, and then turned her eyes back to the road. She was too confused to think about Nadia. Suddenly, Sydney noticed someone in the rear view mirror. It was Sark. Sydney gasped. What was he doing there? He was staring at her with his cold blue eyes. Sydney looked away hoping he would disappear. But soon, he spoke.
"You know what you need to do," he said pointedly.
Sydney's stomach fluttered. She looked over at Nadia. It appeared she never heard him. It made no sense.
"She's going to make sure you spend the rest of your life locked up," Sark spoke again. His voice was plain and calm as he spoke.
Looking into his eyes, at his skin, his face, Sydney noticed how cold and pale he looked. She wondered if he was a ghost out to haunt her. To get revenge on her for killing him. But at the same time, what he was saying was true. She didn't know if he was trying to trick her or help her.
"You'll never stop The Guildiya, you know, if you're locked up. Though, they are a growing organization. I doubt you could stop them," he spoke again, "In fact, they are making plans right now to eliminate you and everyone you love since you killed their leader."
Sydney's eyes widened. She looked over at Nadia. It was a horrible thought that she could be leading Sydney to her end, to everyone's end. Sydney had to stop The Guildiya and Nadia wasn't going to let her. Sydney's stomach churned gravely as her mind thought furiously of what to do.
"You need to get rid of her," Sark spoke. Sydney trembled at the thought. "If you don't, she'll end up killing you and everyone else, even if she doesn't do it with her own hand."
Sydney swallowed hard as her stomach fluttered and tears formed in her eyes. She didn't know what she should do. Looking again in the rear view mirror, she noticed Sark was gone. She was all alone in what to do. She felt her skin crawl and a lump form in her throat.
Sydney headed down a road leading to a less populated area. There were few houses, mostly of which were hidden behind trees. Driving fast, Sydney took a sharp turn, heading up a somewhat winding street amidst an array of trees. Quickly the paved road turned to dirt as they passed a sign saying Ortega Reservoir. Sydney drove around until she came to the end of the road, which ended up being at the far end of the reservoir. Quickly, she got out and went around and dragged Nadia out of the car.
"What are we doing here?" Nadia asked, having no idea what Sydney was planning at this point. Her voice was nervous with concern though, knowing it couldn't be good.
Sydney didn't answer, instead she dragged Nadia along towards the water with tears beginning to form in her eyes.
"Sydney, what are you doing?!" Nadia asked with trembling fear as they neared the water.
"It has to be done," Sydney said with a dead tone as she tried to blink away the tears that wanted to fall.
"Stop!" Nadia commanded. But Sydney didn't. She continued to pull Nadia along until they reached the edge of the reservoir. Sydney then stopped and looked down at the water and back up at Nadia. Her eyes portrayed a burdened terror about what she was planning. Her stomach filled with painful fluttering. And her face scrunched up in emotional pain.
"Why did you have to call them?" Sydney asked as emotions brewed over her.
"Sydney, listen to me. Whatever you are doing, you don't have to do. We can talk about this," Nadia said trying to be calm and reasoning, though traces of fear brimmed her voice.
"You just had to call them. You just had to do it. You've ruined everything. I don't want to do this, but you've ruined everything and I just-"
"Sydney, stop, please," Nadia cried, as tears fell from her terror-stricken eyes.
"I don't want to, but you're going to get in the way of what I need to do."
"What?! What do you need to do. Maybe I can help you, if you'd just stop this."
"I need to stop The Guildiya, I need to stop Sloane."
"He's dead, Sydney, you've already killed him." Suddenly, Sydney looked at Nadia with confusion and then she remembered the blood on her finger, the letter opener in his neck, the little trickle of blood and the fear and betrayal in his eyes as she strangled him.
"It doesn't matter," Sydney said, swallowing hard as she looked down into the water.
"It does. Sydney, he's no longer a threat. There is no need for this. Please listen to me!" Nadia pleaded emotionally with tears streaking her face.
"Everything's a threat. Don't you realize it. People are after me and you won't let me run. They will kill me. I have to get away and you're not letting me do that," Sydney explained with a saddened frustration.
"Sydney-"
"I'm sorry, but I have to."
Sydney cried hard as she suddenly pushed Nadia over the edge of the reservoir, sending her splashing into the water. Tears bitterly overflowed as she watched Nadia struggle.
"I'm so sorry," Sydney whispered in sobs, "I'm so sorry."
~~~
Don't hate me and Syd before you find out what happens