She’d decided to make the story her own. Maybe she was being selfish, but she had been the one living in the dark all these years. She’d earned the right to do this alone on her own terms.
Two blocks and a right turn later, she found herself right where she wanted to be.
Piccadilly Circus.
She’d visited the area several times during her stay in London and she enjoyed the gasps and squeals of delight it elicited from tourists and children seeing it for the first time. It was the junction of several streets in the heart of this large shopping and entertainment district, and from what she understood, it’s already-spectacular lighting was even more breathtaking with the seasonal decorations.
Not a bad place to take her first steps into a new world.
She stopped in the pedestrian plaza and felt the cool breeze on her face. She took a deep breath. Engine exhaust, perfume, and baked goods from a nearby market.
It was noisy. Cars and buses roared by on the crisscrossing streets that surrounded her, shoppers talked and laughed, and a brass quartet played Christmas carols nearby.
She stood motionless for a long moment. A moment which became one full minute, then five.
What in the hell was she waiting for?
It was time to rip off the Band-Aid. So to speak.
Are you ready for me, world?
Because I’m ready for you.
She pulled off her large sunglasses and reached toward the bandages glued between her forehead and upper cheekbones. She tugged, the bandages barely moved. Hmm. The hospital staff probably had a solution that would dissolve the adhesive. This wasn’t going to be easy.
She peeled back the bandages, feeling her skin stretch and pull. She felt no pain, just an unbearable excitement that sent her heart leaping into her throat.
Was she really doing this?
The bandages fluttered to the sidewalk. She peeled off the thick pads that covered her eye sockets.
She held her breath.
There was … something.
Her eyes were still closed, but there was a sensation she’d never experienced.
Was this … light?
She opened her eyes.
She gasped.
In that instant, she stood in another world.
No words. No words to describe what she was suddenly experiencing. There was simply no frame of reference, nothing she could possibly compare this with.
The sounds were the same, but they were now paired with these … things.
Lights. Colors. People.
Oh, the people …
Did noses really look like that? And those ears …
So this is how everyone saw each other. How arbitrary it was that some would be considered more attractive than any others … At this moment, they all looked beautiful to her.
One of them was staring at her. A woman with shoulder-length hair whose face was twisted in what Kendra realized was a smile. Could this person see the amazement, the wonder, the awe?
“Kendra, baby,” the woman whispered.
Kendra gasped. It must be … For the first time in her life, she was looking at the face she’d wanted to see more than any other.
“Mom?”
The woman’s head bobbed up and down. “You can see?”
“Yes.”
“Everything?”
“I … think so.”
Her mother laughed even as tears rolled down her cheeks. She took Kendra in her arms and hugged her.
Kendra squeezed her tight. “You followed me?”
“I had a feeling. I know my little girl.” She laughed shakily. “And you know me. I had to keep my distance. I knew you’d realize it was me if I didn’t.”
“I’m sorry, Mom.”
“No, don’t be. As I said, I know how you think. I—I just needed to be here.”
“I’m glad you are.” Kendra spun around and faced the multicolored lights. She wanted to reach out, embrace them all. She was brimming with wild exhilaration. She felt as if she were part of those brilliant lights, that they were shining out of her. “You have to tell me what those colors are. It’s incredible. I just want to soak in every detail.”
“There’s so much more to see … The Grand Canyon, the Mediterranean Sea at sunrise, the canals of Venice…”
“I want to see it all. Every single bit of it. Tonight!”
Her mother laughed. “Soon. First there’s someone else you need to see. Someone who deserves to be here with you.”
Kendra nodded. “I know.”
“Should you call him, or should I?”
“I’ll do it.” Kendra pulled her phone from her pocket. She started to tap out the number, but realized that the illuminated buttons were disorienting her. She closed her eyes to finish entering the digits.
He answered on the first ring. “Hello.”
Kendra could barely contain the joy in her voice. “Dr. Waldridge … It’s me, Kendra. Sorry to bother you, but I really think you should get yourself here to Piccadilly Circus…”
Old Town San Diego
Present Day
Lynch held his phone between him and Kendra on a quiet side street on the bustling tourist and entertainment area of Old Town. He had Rye on speaker, and they had just given him the info on Dr. Porter Shaw and his involvement in the Night Watch Project.
“Night Watch,” Rye said. “Interesting.”