"Run!" Jane screamed. She grabbed my hand and half dragged me along till I started to run on my own. I tripped and fell bringing Jane down with me. She let out a growl of frustration and tugged me back to my feet repeating the command to run. I ran, I had no idea what I was running from though. I looked back and saw my mother but only she wasn't my mother and there were ten of her. These clearly were clones. I screamed and ran faster dragging Jane along this time. We ran for at least ten minutes before Jane stopped, jerking me backward and leading me into an abandoned mansion. She led me to the basement and put a finger over her lips silently shushing me.
"We'll hear them when they run by stay quiet until then Jack." She whispered and sat down. She motioned me over and I sat next to her and snuggled close. She wrapped her arms around me and held me silently. She's only nineteen and so much braver than I. I'm twenty-four. Well just barely twenty-four and I'm ready to cry like a baby. I hear the sound of footsteps approach outside and I hold my breath and snuggle even closer. She holds me tighter and rests her head on my shoulder. I sit there silently praying these evil clones passed.
A Long Time Before
"Jack you're going to be late for work! Get up already!" I heard mom holler from downstairs. I'm 5'11 with short blonde hair and blue eyes. I've got long legs and a long torso so it's a pain to find pants for myself. I was already dressed and ready to head off to the coffee shop but I didn't want to go today. A new girl was starting today and I've been told that she's tough but kind when you get to know her. Mom always wants to bring home the new workers and give them a nice meal and welcome them to town.
"Jack! Come on!" I jumped up off my bed and yelled to her that I was coming. I grabbed my apron and dashed down the stairs. I snatched them house keys off the table and paused to smile at mom and kiss her on the cheek. Mom was about 5'2 with short curly brown hair and average body type and had beautiful green eyes. She was almost 49 but she looked like she was 30. She is an amazing cook. I ran as fast as I could to work and made it with one minute to spare. I can't take the car till we get another one. With mom not working and dad slacking off at work we've been a little short on money. I waved hello to my boss and smiled at the new girl and clocked in to start my long day of work.
"Hello, my name is Jane. I'm new to town and looking excited to working with you." I smiled at her and noted how kind she was. She was short compared to me, I'm about 5'11 and she was only 4'9. She had black hair down to her waist and striking blue eyes. She was on the skinnier side and dressed in lots of dark colors. She is wearing a pair of black jeans and a dark red shirt with a black jacket. She looked cute overall.
"Hello Jane, I'm Jack, It's nice to meet you too! My mother told me to ask you if you'd like to come have dinner at our house tonight?" she beamed at me, nodded and gave me a quick surprising hug. I chuckled and ruffled her hair because she was cute and tiny. My boss yelled at us to get to work right as a customer walked in. She was a regular and really kind.
"Same as usual Maxi?" she nodded and I started putting her drink together. She gave Jane the $3.50 and went to sit at her usual table and smiled at Jane. Jane was watching me put this complicated drink together. I don't even know what it's called but I know how to make it and that's all that counts.
"Maxi your drinks ready." She looked up from her phone and smiled and walked up to get it. She kissed me on the cheek, took her drink and went to reclaim her seat.
"Thanks Jack." She said as she walked away. More customers had come in by now but they were mainly younger kids around sixteen. I knew they would sit and chat for hours before they came to order. There was a quiet buzz of conversation. I listened closely trying to hear and whenever I did, it was always something about clones. I grabbed a piece of paper and wrote a note to myself to research it.
"Plain black coffee please." Said a man with a deep voice. I looked at him confused and he chuckled. "What's the matter boy? You never have anyone order black coffee?" I shook my head and poured him a cup of simple black coffee still looking confused. He chuckled as he walked away and Jane giggled. I shook my head and gave her a shy smile.
"You'll understand soon enough." She giggled more and took the next order I prepared the drink with ease. About five hours later and over 300 complicated drink orders later our shift came to an end. Jane and I had talked a lot and she seemed like a pretty cool person. I kind of liked her and I think she liked me.
"Do you have a car?" she shook her head and frowned. "That's OK you can ride with me and my mother to my house and I can either drive you home or I can walk you home." She smiled and nodded.
"Sounds like a good plan. It's kinda creepy here, I'm glad I don't have to walk. Thank you, Jack." We clocked out, I waved goodbye to my boss and walked outside, where I waited for mom to arrive and Jane to join me.
"How come you still live with your mom?" she asked as she walked out of the back door, coming to join me on the bench.
"She won't let me move out. I've tried." She looked at me confused and I sighed. "The house we are going to tonight to eat is actually mine. She and dad sold their house which left them with nowhere to go and if I didn't take them in I'd look like a bad son." She chuckled and patted my head.
"My dad is the same way that's why I moved out of town and changed my phone number. I figured living here in a more abandoned looking part of Delta was a good choice. I'm tired of him hovering. I've never been alone; he was the kind of overbearing overly protective kind of dad. Very annoying." This time I patted her on the head and pointed to the car that just parked.
"That's my mom, her name is Mary. Let's go." I got up and tugged her to her feet I walked to the front passenger side and opened the door for her. She smiled at me and climbed in. I waited till she was fully in then I shut the door and climbed in the back. "What's for dinner mom?" my stomach growled as I realized I hadn't eaten today. Mom chuckled.
"I was thinking either spaghetti or lasagna." She looked at Jane, "Which would you prefer Hun? What is your name?"
"My name is Jane. Jack here told me your name is Mary. I think lasagna sounds amazing if it's not too much trouble." Mom nodded and we drove home. Jane and mom chatted the entire ride home. It was only a ten-minute drive but they talked a lot. I listened and found out that Jane is eighteen and doesn't have anything in her house yet. I told her I was 23 and made a mental note to ask her if she'd like a blow-up air mattress for tonight. We got home right as dad arrived.
"Well who's this pretty little thing, Jack?" he smiled at me and I looked at Jane worriedly. Dad was 50 going on 51 he wasn't skinny but he wasn't fat either. He was pretty strong and had super dark brown hair with gray scattered in randomly and spots where it was thinning with blue eyes and looked every bit his age from the long hours he put in at his job. Dad is kind of weird when it comes to young girls, I was hoping he wasn't going to be here. I moved in front of Jane unintentionally and forced a smile.
"This is my new co-worker, Jane. Jane this is Bill, my father. She is staying for dinner and then I'm taking her home." I led Jane up the walk to the house and the living room. I motioned for her to take a seat and she smiled and sat.
"What a beautiful home you have Jack." I smiled at her shyly and pulled out my phone and searched up what the clone business was about and found out that a mad scientist was hiding in a lab making clones and keeping them locked up in a lab. I sat in a chair across from the couch and kicked off my shoes and put my feet up on the coffee table and continued to read the article.
"What are you reading?" Jane inquired and I smiled at her and showed her the phone. She read some of the article. She looked at me confused.
"I was listening in on people's conversations and I heard a lot of people talking about it so I wrote it down on a piece of paper so I could research it." I smiled at her again and asked her if she wanted me to send her the link. She nodded so I sent it over and we each read the article. She looked spooked.
"What happens when they escape?" she looked genuinely worried. I gave her a comforting smile and reassured her that all would be OK and that nothing would happen.
"Dinners ready!" mom yelled and I led Jane to the kitchen. I pulled her chair out for her and she sat and smiled. I pushed in her chair and sat in the chair next to her keeping my dad away from her. He was watching her from the other end of the table. I didn't like the gleam in his eyes. Jane took a bite and smiled a smile full of pure bliss.
"This is amazing." She said around a mouthful of food and mom beamed at her. We all dug in and ate. Jane was right, it was amazing. She insisted on helping clean up. Her and I washed up the dishes.
"Thank you guys for helping out." Mom said and hugged me and patted Jane's shoulder "You should get her home." She handed me the keys to the car.
"You ready Jane?" she nodded and we headed out the car. "You wanna walk or would you like me to drive you?" she requested we drive. "Oh, you said you have nothing in your house. Would you like a blow up air mattress?" she shook her head no.
"These clones are seriously concerning me." She began to fidget in her seat and I reached a hand over to her. She took my hand and squeezed it. I squeezed back and smiled at her.
"All will be OK they are in high tech cages with over a hundred guards watching them. Plus, they are being held almost four hundred miles from here. It says they can't operate heavy machinery." I smiled and pulled into her drive way. She smiled and seemed calmer and I walked her to her door. I waited till she was safely inside and then went home. I went upstairs and went straight to sleep.