points at the screaming infant. ‘Give her to me!’
‘No.’ Quenton holds his ground. The nurse stands, preparing to flee with the child.
‘I want you to sober up, Virgil. I want you to go to my home and-’
Virgil punches the minister in the gut, dropping him to his knees.
The midwife tucks the infant under one arm, brandishing a kitchen knife in the other. ‘Ya’ll git outta here, Virgil. Go on!’
Virgil stares at the blade quivering in the fat woman’s fist. In one motion he grabs her wrist, wrenching the knife free.
The midwife screams, backing away.
Virgil stares at the infant, then hears Madelina moaning from inside the bedroom. ‘Damn no-good bitch…’ Leaving the kitchen, he ducks inside the bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him.
‘Oh, Lord, oh, God-Quenton, get up! Get up, Quenton!’
The minister struggles to his feet as sounds of slapping flesh and Madelina’s screams fill the home. Quenton turns to the midwife. ‘Go! Take the child to the neighbors and call the police!’
The woman hurries out the back door.
Quenton bangs on the locked bedroom door. ‘Virgil? Virgil Robinson, you leave her be! You hear me?’
The screaming stops, the sudden silence deafening.
The minister backs away from the door and the approaching footsteps.
Virgil emerges, his white tee shirt splattered scarlet. He casts a hollow look at the minister, then stumbles into the night.
Quenton Morehead peeks inside the bedroom. Gags. Crosses himself.
Belle Glade police will arrest Virgil Robinson hours later in the apartment of Luanda Melendez, a thirty-nine- year-old ‘dancer.’
The mutilated body of Madelina Lilith Aurelia will be buried two days later.
PART 3
INFANCY
The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.
TOP SECRET/MAJESTIC-12
WARNING: Unauthorized access or viewing of this document without the appropriate authorizations will result in permanent incarceration or sanction by authorized use of deadly force.
PROGRESS REPORT ON SPECIAL ACCESS PROGRAM GOLDEN FLEECE
27 October 2013
HUNAHPU GENETICS
1. A thorough physiological and genetics examination of the Gabriel Twins reveals some unique findings. Geneticists have isolated a mutation in chromosome six, in segments 6p21 through 6p26. This genetic anomaly (Hunahpu marker) is dominant in Jacob Gabriel (white-haired, blue-eyed twin) but so far recessive in Immanuel Gabriel (dark-haired, darkeyed twin). Although only five weeks old, physical and mental disparities among the boys are already apparent. While both boys are far above average, Jacob’s responses to voice recognition are on par with three-year olds. Incredibly, Jacob can already walk and can support his body weight by gripping a horizontal bar for more than two minutes. GOLDEN FLEECE trainers assigned to the Gabriel compound as developmental teachers claim the child prodigy’s improvements can be measured daily.
2. Unfortunately, Jacob’s physical and mental capabilities may be rendered moot as he gets older. The Hunahpu gene is part of the same chromosome that leads to paranoid schizophrenia. (Note: Michael Gabriel was incarcerated in an asylum for this same diagnosis.) While the twins are not yet old enough to exhibit this type of deviant behavior, it is recommended that all GOLDEN FLEECE personnel assigned to the Gabriel compound be advised.
Submitted:
W. Louis McDonald
GOLDEN FLEECE
27 October 2013
6
The barrier island of Longboat Key is an eleven-mile stretch of land located between the tropical waters of Sarasota Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Considered a private island-paradise, the resort town is home to 8,000 permanent residents and 150 relocated members of the National Guard and their families.
Follow the pristine alabaster beach south past Fire Station Number 2 and you will reach a restricted zone. What was once the Quick Point Nature Preserve has been turned into an Army base. Perimeter electrical fencing is monitored around the clock by security cameras and armed flying drones keep trespassers away. The entire island and surrounding waters are considered a no-fly, no-boating zone, the restriction enforced by 20-mm guns mounted on turrets on both the Gulf and Bay sides of the preserve. Two Coast Guard cutters patrol the surrounding Gulf waters. Boaters and divers are no longer permitted south of Fire Station Number 2.
Three concrete-and-steel dwellings set in a wide ‘H’ formation, occupy the southern tip of the island. The building on the right is a training center, complete with classrooms, the latest virtual-reality combat simulators, a weight room, basketball court, and a Faraday chamber, impervious to electromagnetic waves. The building on the left is a three-storey residence, its luxury suites occupied by the bodyguards, Salt and Pepper, and the private staff that serves the occupants of the central facility.
The six-bedroom, eight-bathroom beachfront home at the center of the ‘H’ belongs to Dominique Gabriel and her two sons. The house has two wings, separated by an enormous kitchen, dining room, living room, virtual- reality chamber, and den.
Dominique waits patiently while the ABC 20/20 film crew sets up in her living room, under the watchful eyes of her bodyguards. Today marks the first appearance her family has ever made before the cameras. With the presidential election only a week away, and Ennis Chaney trailing Peter Mabus in the polls, Dominique feels it important to address the issue that has been swaying public opinion over the last thirty-six months.
Barbara Walters makes her way carefully across the living room carpet, now covered in a myriad of electrical wires. The renowned reporter has come out of retirement just for this interview.
‘Hello, Dominique, I’m so glad to finally meet you.’
‘Me too. I really appreciate your network coming on such short notice. Mabus’s lies have gotten way out of hand.’
‘Our viewers will want to hear all about it. When do I get to meet the twins?’
