Dark Creations: Hell on Earth (Part 5) by Jennifer Martucci, Christopher Martucci Page A

and muttered, “Yes ma’am,” with both eyebrows raised.
    “All right, that’s enough!  You’re so gross! ” Daniella scolded both of them.
    “You tell them , sweetie,” Ryan said to Daniella.
    “See that, Yoshi?  That’s a man who supports his woman.  That’s a man who’s going to get laid,” Alexandra started again.
    “Let it go, Alex,” Melissa said.
    “You know, I think I liked i t better when you were the quiet, shy type,” Alexandra said then smiled.
    Melissa rolled her eyes playfully.  She knew her friend loved every moment of their now constant teasing.
    “Getting back to whole Ed and Jack thing, what do you think the deal is?” Melissa asked.
    “Maybe post-traumatic stress disorder mixed with senility.  Both probably have PTSD and Ed senility,” Gabriel proposed.
    “That sounds about right,” Ryan agreed.
    “Yeah, maybe, if not then Jack’s just straight up crazy.  I’d hate to think Jack is crazy, man.”
    “Did you see how he was all wide-eyed when Ed and the others were talking?” Daniella asked.  “It was disturbing.”
    “It was hard to look at,” Melissa agreed. 
    “Maybe the Jack we knew is gone,” Gabriel added somberly.
    “I wish we had beer,” Alexandra blurted out randomly.  “It would make this conversation a lot more interesting.”
    “What’s not interesting about an old crackpot military dude with a farm filled with trailers, and other crackpot military dudes, claiming towns are being taken over by a dead person?” Yoshi asked sarcastically.
    “Well shit, Yoshi, when you pu t it like that, it is pretty damned interesting,” Alexandra admitted.
    And it was.  The conversation, the meeting, all the people involved could very well have been actors in an awful soap opera.  Unfortunately, they were not, and no one was waiting in the wings to shout, “Cut!” to them.  They were on their own.
    The thought sent a shiver of unease through Melissa’s body. 
    “I guess we’ll find out exactly what’s going on tomorrow,” Gabriel said.
    “Yay, you get to go on a field trip with crazy Santa.  I bet you can’t wait,” Alexandra said ironically.
    “I’m sure it’s going to be terrible.  But how else will we know for sure what’s happening?  It’s not like we can rely on their personal accounts,” Gabriel reasoned.
    “I guess you’re right, but this sucks,” Alexandra said. 
    “That’s my eloquent girl,” Yoshi said and rubbed her back.
    “That ship has sailed, guy.  Give it up,” Alexandra warned him.
    Melissa was glad everyone was maintaining their usual senses of humor.
    “I don’t know, I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be pretty embarrassing for those guys,” Yoshi said.
    “I know.  Me, too,” Ryan agreed.
    “I almost feel sorry for them,” Daniella added.
    “It’s all so far-fetched,” Gabriel said pensively and Melissa swore she could see a glimmer of something familiar in his eyes.  She wondered whether it was doubt or dread, or neither.  Regardless, his eyes betrayed his offhandedness about the circumstances, and his calm. “I guess the sooner we get it over with, the sooner we get to go home, right?” he continued.
    “Right,” Melissa said and took his hand in hers.  “And we’re doing this for Jack more than anything else.  We owe this to him.”
    Gabriel gave her hand a gentle squeeze.  She knew he’d felt a degree of responsibility for Dawn Downing’s death.  She wished she could rid his brain, as well as his heart, of that guilt.  After all, he had not been involved in any of Dr. Terzini’s experiments.  Gabriel was one of Dr. Terzini’s experiments.  Yet he had assumed blame for his maker’s relocation to the West Coast, for forcing him to enact a secondary plan that had included experimentation on pregnant women.  Of course, none of his fears held any validity.  All of Terzini’s deeds would have been done whether or not Gabriel had performed exactly as he’d intended, had Terzini