Six

POV change. ____________________________________________________ LEIB "You're stalling. Tell me already." She demanded, annoyance evident in her tone. A sort-off flash caught my eyes, automatically pulling them to that direction. "Shit." I couldn't stop my mouth from uttering the expletive. A freaking spark blazed for half a second just beside my sister's head. Maybe it was my eyes playing tricks on me, maybe it was something else. She sighed, "Fine, don't tell me, but don't curse me for asking for help." Why would she ask about a microorganism when she wasn't even interested? I told her anyway, though. "A Strain 121 is a unicellular heat loving bacteria—they are called thermophiles—well, it's the general term for those types of bacteria that prefers to live in temperatures considered warm or hot." I went for an apple in the fridge and then went back to take a seat on the kitchen chair. "In a Geogemma barossii's case—strain 121—" by the shape of her mouth when she turned to me I knew she was going to ask if that was a person I was talking about. "It is classified as an extremophile. You know, "extreme". According to scientists, this bacterium can live up to one-hundred twenty-one to one-hundred thirty degrees Celsius, hence the name." I watched as she grabbed the handle of the casserole to steady it while she poured the other ingredients. The metal handle of a heating casserole! "So it loves heat. Does it ever get destroyed, like can it really take that amount of heat without burning any of its parts?" She leaned on the refrigerator, the kitchen island in between us. "No," I answered immediately, I crossed my legs and leaned back to the chair to appear at ease, but the truth was I was spooked. "Because some of the cell components of these types of organisms possesses particular properties than that of the normal-temperature thriving ones. It was said that the reason these organisms survive in such drastic conditions was the high guanine-cytosine content, though it was later then taken back." Kat moved to check the food. "In the recent studies, it showed that there was no correlation between the content of the genome and the environmental growth of this microorganism. So it still remains a mystery." My sister seemed deep in thought, but I couldn't help but ask questions regarding her disappearance. "Kat, did you notice anything weird about or around you lately?" She looked at me funny. "Like what?" "Anything." "Nothing." But she sounded like she wasn't sure if it was really nothing. "Kids, we're home." Called Mom from the living room. Mom entered the kitchen hauling a large bag "Hi," Immediate she went to her and gave my sister a kiss on her cheek. "How was school?" She asked her, keeping her arms around Kat. I know Mom got a lot of questions and she was holding herself back from asking because the psychiatrist advised her to do so. Now, whenever she could, she would be around Kat, asking her trivial questions. Her constant hugs and kisses always given to my sister. "Fine," Kat mumbled while she eyed me. Got it, mouth sealed. I stood up, walked to Mom and hugged her. "I'll go help Dad fix whatever he had brought home to fix." With that, I walked out. I found Dad taking out grocery bags. "No take home work today?" I asked lifting two, one in each arms. "Nope, closed the shop early." After he closed the compartment door, instead of lifting the bags, he went and popped the hood of my car. "Your engine could use a cleaning." He said, still peering in. "So, how's your sister?" Dad asked as he started brushing the engine. "I could hear her crying upstairs last night, and the night before that." I heard her too. I decided to check on her but she calmed down when I got to her room, so I left her alone. She told me about a recurring dream... "Did she tell you anything? Anything she remembers when she went missing?" Dad switched to a rug. "I'm worried about Kat, Leib. Everything seems normal with her in the day, but after she slept, she cried, screamed, and talked. If I find out what happened—and I will—I will teach those sons of—" Dad's enraged monologue was cut off when we heard Kat's scream. Not bothering to think if there were any breakables in the bags, I set them down roughly and ran to the kitchen. I saw her slumped on the floor with Mom holding her, crying. She told us that there was a man in the kitchen, but they were the only ones when I got there. Kat screamed again. I ran towards Kat from the window I was staring. Seeing her be like this was chilling. It made me feel like punching something. The frustration of not able to know what really happened to my sister when she went missing infuriated me. Is she having a seizure? With the way she was convulsing at the moment, one couldn't help but think that. I knelt beside her and held her hand, my heart pounding, nervous as to what was happening to my sister. "No! No, no, no, please. Please!" She murmured over and over. The night was so silent that her gasps and murmurs were the only ones that could be heard in the entire kitchen. Dad was holding her other hand while he shakily stated our address to the rescue number he just dialed. Mom was crying, sobbing and telling Kat to ‘hold on, help's coming'. I felt so useless, I couldn't even do anything to ease her ail rather than to just hold her hand and pray she calms down. Kat whimpered, her seizure stopped. Mom stroked her forehead, whispering sweet words. I, on the other hand concentrated on feeling her pulse, steady, like she hadn't done a full body spasm. I didn't let go of her hand even as the paramedics lifted her on the gurney and wheeled her into the waiting ambulance. My mind was still boggled. So many questions cramped inside my mind every one of them needing an answer. In the hospital, we were told to wait outside the room while they check Kat. Mom was still sobbing and Dad comforting her. "She was murmuring ‘no' and ‘please' over and over." Mom whispered, "God only know what happened to her there—to wherever she went—it seemed to be horrible." My mother's sobs turned into soft cries and Dad hugged her tighter. After what seemed like hours, the doctor came out and we immediately jumped to meet him half way. "Doctor, how is she?" Dad asked. "She has a slight fever, but everything else is normal, we scheduled her for a CT scan in an hour." The doctor—Mister Alpincott his I.D. says—reached into his pocket and handed Dad a paper. "I prescribed a medicine to lower her temperature, you can buy it at the pharmacy by the lobby." "She was having a seizure earlier, is she okay now? Will my daughter be having the same episode again?" My mother's frantic question had me silently asking the same. "We'll know later after the scan and the results are released." The doctor's smile didn't reach his eyes. "If you would like to see her, she's resting inside." He gestured the room he came out of. "A nurse will assist her later for the CT scan." He nodded to my parents and me, and then left. We warily entered the room, and Kat was there, staring at the ceiling. "Kat, darling?" Mom called softly. "How are you feeling?" She asked as she sat down on the side of her bed. Dad sat beside mom. I leaned on the wall by the door, watching my parents stroke my sister's face and hair. "Dad, Mom, I was abducted by people in black, there were four of them. They electrocuted me to keep me from getting away." My eyes were so wide as I listened to Kat tell the story with so much calmness. "Do you remember any of the person's faces?" Was Dad's immediate response. She didn't move an inch, still lain on her back staring at the ceiling. "No they were masked." A tear slid down her temple. Kat wiped it. "Mom, the doctor said I should drink lots of water before the CT scan and no food yet." Mom seemed to process what she said for a second and then nodded. Kat made Dad go with her flinging the reason that Mom might breakdown or something. The silence was so heavy when our parents left. My sister got up and I was immediately there, propping a pillow to support her back. "Leib, I feel like I am not me anymore." I stared at my sister's brown eyes as they filled with tears. "The child in the dream is me!" She broke down, her body shaking with every sob she let out. I was speechless, I couldn't follow what she was talking about. What child? Dream? Was this the same dream she was supposed to tell me? "Leib," She clutched the blanket provided by the hospital. "I remember everything, I think." "What do you recall?" A smell singed my nose. Smoke? I frowned, in the hospital?