Freak of Nature

Chapter Twenty-Four

Once again, Kaitlyn was on a train, but now she was headed back in the direction she had come from. 

Anger filled her so completely that she couldn’t see past the rage. Lies. She was sick of all the lies. After all IFICS had taken from her, she deserved the truth. The decision had been so easy to make. There was nothing left of her old life but memories. She couldn’t return to her parents and their white house, and Evan had moved on with his life. They would not accept her for the robot she had become, and she couldn’t expect them to. If her parents found out what had happened to her, Lucas and the others would all go to jail. She needed to speak to Lucas first. Perhaps someday she would find a way to come back to her parents, but right now was not the time. Life had moved on when she was gone. 

Therefore, Kate knew it was time for her to move on, too. She wasn’t sure where she would go or what she would do, but she would start over. 

Remembering what Lucas had said about the handheld device, Kaitlyn reached for the phone. She noticed the symbol at the top informing her that the battery was getting low. 

She hesitated for only a moment before she tapped the button and stated as clearly as possible, “Address for Lucas Andrews. Northern Virginia.” 

Kaitlyn actually smiled. A robot talking to a robot. 

A list of potential addresses scrolled across the phone, and Kaitlyn was impressed. She narrowed it down to three locations, and turned off the phone to conserve the battery. 

She didn’t notice the scenery or the passengers this time; her sole focus was finding out what had happened to her lost time. She knew going back was dangerous because they would be looking for her—they might even be watching Lucas—but she had to chance it. She had to know. 

She dozed off, and for the first time since she could recall, she didn’t dream about Evan.

As the train pulled into the station, she grabbed her bag and wondered about the significance of this change. Maybe seeing him in person and knowing he had accepted her death and moved on had allowed her to close that part of her subconscious. She still couldn’t get over the fact that he was married, or that her real name was Cassidy. However, the most mind-boggling was the time that had passed. Where had it gone? 

It was cool as she made her way out into the early morning. She didn’t notice it of course, but her internal thermometer flashed fifty-seven degrees. The station bustled with commuters coming and going, and she stopped to watch for a moment. So many people going about their day, living their normal lives. She saw a man wearing a suit, carrying a briefcase. He looked like he was talking to himself, but she noticed he was speaking into a bluetooth earpiece. There was a long line at the coffee cart, and a woman pulled her sweater tighter in the brisk air. They had no idea a freak, a deadly super soldier, walked amongst them. 

Switching on the phone, she browsed the map function. It took Kaitlyn almost an hour to reach the first potential address by foot. There was an older model Cadillac in the driveway, so unless Lucas lived with someone, she had a feeling this would be a bust. Although, with the way things were going, even that wouldn’t surprise her at this point.

She rang the doorbell, and an older man answered. 

Smiling brightly, Kaitlyn asked, “Excuse me, is Lucas home?”

The man stared at her for a long moment before answering. “Nope. Lucas is at his friend’s house. What do you want with him?”

Her mind raced, trying to come up with a plausible explanation. Finally, she just went with the truth. “It was a shot in the dark. My ex-boyfriend’s name is Lucas Andrews. I looked him up, and this was one of the addresses.”