The Return Home

Once Ethan was done eating the trio headed out. The receptionist met them at agent Issac's car with the food from the butcher shop and Fry.

Fry was wearing blue jeans and a black shirt advertising a rock band. Her hair was pulled back, leaving the dark circles under her eyes the main focus of her face.

"Fry, you look like shit."

"It's still better than your face."

She walked up and gave his arm a light punch. Behind her, the receptionist handed the bag from the butcher shop to Ethan and immediately left.

"Do you know what the hell is going on?"

"Yeah. I'll fill you in on the details on the drive. Before we go I should tell you that my real name isn't Gideon, it's Soren Valle."

She lowered her eyebrows and frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"It's a long story. The abbreviated version is that I've been hiding from my father for the past eight years."

The expression on her face softened and she started to say something but he interrupted her. He was not in the mood for sympathetic words.

"Right now I need you to get in the car. I'll explain some things on the way, other things I'll tell you later.

"I don't expect you to trust me."

"Don't worry, you know I always keep my guard up. Besides, I don't think the suits would let me leave if I wanted to. The assholes have been keeping me locked up."

She glanced at agent Issac as she spoke the last part. He was standing by the driver's side waiting for them to get into the car.

"Some things are more important than personal freedom."

"Sounds like something a suit would say."

She then proceeded to flip him off. Soren laughed and walked towards the car. Ethan, who had been waiting by the car with the food, opened both the back and front passenger door.

"Agent Issac is friendly enough, he sent me to State Pen for a little vacation."

Fry stopped moving just as she was about to get into the back seat and glanced between agent Issac and Soren.

"Vacation?"

Soren motioned for her to get in and shut the door behind her. He turned to Ethan as he got into the front passenger seat, he had noticed an odd expression on the other's face.

When Soren sat down Ethan crouched down and looked up. His pupils were dilated and his lips pressed tightly together as he held out the bag toward Soren.

"Boss, are you sure I'm ok? I'm still hungry after eating all that food and the smell coming from the bag makes me want to rip it open and eat it.

"I know what's in there. It shouldn't make me hungry."

Soren took the bag from him and placed it on the floorboard. He placed a hand on Ethan's shoulder and gave it a pat.

"It's a new definition of ok, but you are ok. I promise. I'll explain it later."

Soren glanced to the side where agent Issac was, letting Ethan know that he wouldn't say anything while the suit was around.

"Ok, boss."

Ethan stood up and shut the door then walked around and got in the car. Once all three were in agent Issac got in. The conversation between Ethan and Soren had been quiet enough that not even Fry heard what was said.

Soren explained to the two in the backseat everything that had been going on, at least the official version. Later, when they had some privacy he would tell everything he knew.

"So, what happened to me that night… I-I turned into a zombie?"

Fry's face had slowly paled while he spoke. The memory of her mutating was still fresh in her mind.

"You could call it that."

"But, I'm not like that now? Were you there?"

"I was."

"Did, did you stop it? I remember the pain, an overwhelming hunger, then I vaguely remember you. The next thing I know I'm alone and everything was back to normal."

"If you really want to know what happened you can watch the video, but I don't recommend it."

"I saw the dude in the room, I wouldn't want to see it."

Fry turned to look at Ethan, the empty look in his eyes reflected how she felt.

"You, too?"

Ethan looked over at Soren then turned to look out the window. He wanted to air out his grievances but did not want to risk angering Soren. He felt that saying anything against his boss in front of the man's girl would cause trouble.

"It's only been a couple of hours so the experience is still fresh in Ethan's mind."

The remainder of the trip was in silence. It took them ten minutes from where they were to drive out of town and another five minutes to get to Soren's childhood home.

Soren's heart sped up as they pulled into the driveway. He suddenly felt sick to his stomach and had the urge to puke.

"Wow, your house is beautiful."

"I didn't know you came from money, boss. I've never met someone with a house that big."

The house was two stories with a large balcony off the back. The house itself was painted white with black accents in a style that closely resembled colonial. There were solar panels visible on the roof where they were parked.

Inside, it boasted five bedrooms upstairs with a large bathroom attached to the master bedroom and a second bathroom. On the main floor, there was a kitchen, living room, dining room, study, and laundry/mudroom.

Downstairs was a finished basement with three bedrooms and a large room that had a bar. Connected to the downstairs, which the agents had not yet located, was a secret door that led to a lower level that housed a lab, a living room, kitchen, and three bedrooms. One of the bedrooms, located next to the lab, had been built with three cell-like cages that Soren was all too familiar with.

So, while Fry and Ethan were in awe of the house Soren wanted to burn it.

"Sometimes what looks beautiful on the outside is rotten on the inside. My father had this place built not long after my mother died.

"It has everything in it a mad scientist needs to play god."

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

Soren raised an eyebrow at agent Issac's question and shook his head. He did not want to go in, but it was necessary so he opened the door and stepped out.

Soren's words had once again plunged the group into silence. Everyone got out of the car. Agent Issac followed Soren while Ethan stopped Fry.

"Hey, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Are you hungry? Like, I ate a bunch of food after I changed back. A lot, but it wasn't filling. It was like…"

"Like eating nothing. A constant hunger that won't go away."

Ethan was not sure if he should laugh or cry knowing that she was feeling the same way.

"Boss said that I'm ok after I told him. He said that it was, um, a new ok but it was ok."

"Why do you call him 'boss?'"

"You'll have to ask him. I don't want to say something and make him mad."

"You guys coming?"

They turned to see Soren and agent Issac standing at the open door of the house looking at them. They hurried to catch up.