White Rabbit Chapter 31

31.

The key to scientific research and genetic development is to always see the high point in apparent failure and the problems in resounding successes. Project Morphism was no different. Even though “Sharkman” (as he was known by The National Examiner) ended up mauling a mermaid in front of tourists and killing the beloved Sea World dolphin, Skipper, he was considered a moderate success. Same with Claude. Even though he tore Dr. Borger to pieces and blew up a 747 full of hundreds of people, it wasn’t all bad. The fact that a normal human being could be genetically altered was a success for genetic science in and of itself. An investigation determined that the flaw was in Dr. Borger’s samples. He used degenerates so he wouldn’t feel bad about mutating them and the injections augmented their shitty personalities. The investigation determined that Claude raped four women but only thought of it as aggressive alpha male sex. So, the federal government under the direction of The Department of Homeland Security and the CIA decided that Project Morphism was not worthy of scrapping. They rounded up all the test subjects who were still alive. Albert Sensenbaum was injected with ape sperm. He was arrested at the New York Zoo staring at apes where he had been for the past forty seven days. Today, he was vomiting grass-like piles of vomit in his hand and eating them in front of small children. After that he began throwing handfuls of his own shit at the apes while screaming wildly. “Perfect timing,” a CIA agent said nonchalantly to another as they swooped in. The agents’ pulse didn’t increase whatsoever. They were both former Navy SEALs and this wasn’t the sort of action they got excited about. Al the ape had been on a self-imposed strict ape diet and eating bananas without pealing them for seven solid weeks.

            When Delores woke up Alex was gone. She felt around her bed but he wasn’t there and there was no impression of a sleeping invisible. She looked over and Whitney’s bed was empty and perfectly made. The window was lightening but it was still dark outside. She could hear the shower turning off. Her clock said 6:30 but the alarm didn’t go off. She stared at it but it didn’t move. It stayed at 6:30. Whitney came out of the bathroom smiling. “You’re awake! Oh, Delores, I had the strangest dream!”

            Delores sat up. She looked around the room. He was gone. She looked in her bed and her sheets were stained. That was a start. “Are you alright, Delores?”

            “Fine.” Looking around confused.

            “Well…don’t you want to hear about my dream?” Whitney asked standing in the doorway in her underwear with a towel wrapped around her head like a turban. She was putting in contact lenses one arm completely reaching over her head pulling up her eyelid and the other holding the contact lens like a fingertip full of nitroglycerin. “It was fantastic!”

              “It was.” Delores agreed.

            “Yes! Wait…What?”

            “Never mind. Later, Whitney. Tell me later. I have an awful headache.” she lied to excuse herself from Whitney’s exhilaration. He was gone and she didn’t understand why he left. He asked to take her to the train station she remembered clearly. She got up sluggishly preparing herself for her trip home without him walking away from Whitney to the bathroom.

            “But Delores. There was this wolf!”

            Delores stopped in her tracks, “A wolf?”

            “Yes! All that talk of that werewolf of yours must have gotten to me.”

            “Yes. But what did you dream?”

            “Well, first I went home and my father —”

            “No! About the wolf… What did you dream about the wolf?”

            Whitney looked frightened at Delores’ sudden enthusiasm for her dream. “Um, oh, I dreamt that the same wolf I saw outside of Dunkin’ Donuts was here in this room.” She pointed to the rug between their beds. “Right there! And he was licking peanut butter out of a jar!” she laughed. Her laugh wilted when Delores didn’t laugh. Delores was putting thoughts together.

            “Then what?” Delores pounced aggressively.

            “Um,” Whitney thought answering nervously, “then he looked up and saw me. I closed my eyes. And then he vanished.”

            “Vanished?”

            “Yes,” Whitney repeated, “vanished. I was dreaming.” Whitney excused herself from the room. Delores got dressed and hurried down the stairs to join Whitney and Lady Goodyear and the servants for breakfast. Whitney was telling her story and Lady Goodyear seemed very interested. She looked at Delores oddly who snuck into her seat. Phillipe respectfully rose as she came to the table and smiled at her. She returned his smile awkwardly. Even late, even rushed, she was exquisite. She still felt sore so she knew that something happened. It couldn’t have been a dream or from any self-inflicted pleasure.

            “Sorry, I am late.” Delores apologized.

            “It is quite alright, Delores.” Lady Goodyear excused properly. “Whitney was just telling us of a curious dream she had involving a wolf in your room. Did you see a wolf in your room last night, Delores?” The servants smiled looking down the table at her. Delores began to blush and look down. She made weird faces. She was always nervous when questioned by adults, guilty or innocent.

“Um, no, ma’am. I did not see a wolf. I am a sound sleeper.”

            “But you came downstairs to check for a stray cat. Had the door open even. I thought perhaps when you returned to your room you might have seen this alleged wolf.”

            "You are assuming that it was there." Delores retorted.

            "No, I assume nothing," Lady Goodyear replied swiftly, "simply inquiring."Whitney interrupted laughing. “It was a dream!” she smiled back and forth at both of them. “While we were at Dunkin’ Donuts last night I saw the same wolf outside of our window.”

            

            Lady Goodyear’s eyebrows rose inquisitively. “Oh? Well, that is certainly interesting, Whitney.” She looked back to Delores. “And Delores, did you see the same wolf at Dunkin’ Donuts?”

            Delores looked at Whitney as though to shut her up with a friendly but portentous glare. Whitney was perplexed. She was even more confused when Delores said, “No, ma’am. I believe what we saw was a Siberian Husky.”

            “Oh, a Siberian Husky.” Lady Goodyear repeated pensively. “Well, that is certainly more likely.” Some of the servants laughed. “Wouldn’t you agree, Thomas?” Thomas, her driver had a face full of food. He was a much older man with gray thinning hair, watery blue eyes and dumpling cheeks.

“Yes, oh, um, yes, Lady Goodyear,” he replied after quickly swallowing an abundant scoop of eggs and toast. He coughed fretfully. “It is, um, certainly more plausible.” Then he scratched his ear strangely and twitched. Whitney looked at Delores curiously. Delores looked at Thomas suspiciously. He had always been so quiet. Slowly the puzzle was piecing together for Whitney. Her mouth opened involuntarily and her eyes bulged like water balloons on the spigot. Fortunately, someone spoke and changed the subject but the room was charged nonetheless with the suspicion of a wolf. What an exciting breakfast topic. Delores watched each dish of food to see if any of them seemingly served themselves. She looked around the room and listened closely for disturbances but nothing. She couldn’t feel him either but she hoped desperately that he was hiding somewhere. Whitney hurried to finish eating and wiped her face and threw her napkin on her plate.

“May I be excused? I have to finish packing.” she said anxiously.

Delores looked at her incedulously.

“Yes, sweetheart.” Lady Goodyear smiled.

“Thank you!” Whitney disappeared quickly and Delores could hear her rushing up the steps. Not much later, Delores opened the door and walked into the room. Whitney was sitting on the end of her bed with the empty bottle of Peter Pan in her hand. “Delores!” she gasped bug-eyed. Delores confessed to all but the Alprazolam.

An hour later Delores walked through the train station with her suitcase in tow. Snow blanketed the grime and filth and her boots slushed through the partially shoveled walk. There were no strange men stalking about soliciting change. It was too cold and TSA stepped up enforcement with the holidays and because of Claude Van Wert. Policemen walked the interior giving everyone suspicious the hairy eyeball. There was one weirdo but he was not collecting change or talking to anyone but himself. He was wearing a Philadelphia Eagles coat and stocking cap appropriately. Delores didn’t know that the tall skinny man actually thought he was an eagle. He was one of the test subjects from Project Morphism. CIA agents were closing in on him. Under his coat he had terrific feathers growing from his back and body. If they hadn’t caught him when they did and just as Delores walked past, he would have found a tall building and taken a leap and they would have been scooping him up with a shovel. He was resisting arrest but a few body shots subdued him well enough to strap on the cuffs. Some bleeding hearts took video on their cell phones and demanded to know what he was being charged with but the CIA agents confiscated their phones and told them to get lost. Delores walked on unconcerned unlike a horde of others.

She stood in front of her train and looked around. Her bottotm lip tingled and her legs were sore. “Alex?” she called quietly and then a little louder.

No reply. Beatles For Sale. Track 1. Delores’ favorite. The lady’s voice that announced her arrival called her departure to Portland and the doors opened. She looked around one more time and stepped inside taking the first seat open. They were all open because the other passengers were delayed by their curiosity over the Birdman. She stowed her bag in the overhead compartment and slumped back in her seat. She put her head on the window frosting it inadvertently with her breath and drew fancy hearts crying at the sight of them. Then everything became cloudy and slurred. Sound like underwater. The train swished out of the station and no one could tell besides for a callous man across from her that she was having a seizure.