DISCLAIMER: Elaine mine, Hoskin family members mine and Kat's,
everyone else theirs. Debbie used with full permission of her
ReaLife(TM) namesake.


                        The End of Adam

By Elizabeth M. Lawrence (luckyliz@mindspring.com) 

Comments always welcome. (This is a hint, people <G>) Other stories
involving Elaine can be found at http://www.mindspring.com/~luckyliz.)



Adam paced the floor impatiently.  Since Professor Stokes had sent him
into the back room two days ago, Adam had been fed, but nothing else.
The bullet had been removed and his shoulder wrapped, but other than
that, he'd been left alone.

There were voices coming from the other room. Professor Stokes and
someone else. A woman. Adam had a hard time understanding her, since
she talked a lot differently than anyone in Collinsport.

The door opened and Professor Stokes and the woman entered. 

At first, Adam thought she was Caroline. The woman did have Caroline's
blonde hair, blue eyes and petite figure. But this woman was older
than Caroline, somewhere between Caroline and Doctor Hoffman in age.

"Who is this woman?" Adam demanded. "I do not know her."

"Not verrah polite, is he?" the woman countered. "Ah cn see Ah'll have
tah teach him some mannahs alon' with ev'rythin' else."

Professor Stokes held up his hand, trying to keep the peace. "Adam,
this is Elaine Parker. She's the one who'll operate on your scars," he
said, introducing them. "Elaine, this is Adam."

Elaine went up to Adam, placed her hand on his chin and turned his
head to either side. "Created from pahts of dead people, yah said?"
she asked Professor Stokes. "Who evah did it did a lousay job. Ah was
doin' be'ah wahk with a needle 'n' thread when Ah was eight."

"But you can do it?" Stokes asked.

"A'cahse," she snorted. "Piece of cake." 

Releasing the chin, Elaine walked around Adam, examining him. Adam
followed, turning in a circle.

"The onlay difficultay is in the amoun' of time it will take," she
continued. "The scahs ah all ovah his boday?"

"I presume so," Stokes answered. "Not that I've seen much of him."

"Ellayot, yah ge'in' old!" Elaine declared, looking at him in
surprise. "Time was when yah'd do ev'rythin' yah could tah get yah
hands on a beau'ay like this, scahs oh no."

"That time was several years ago," Stokes reminded her. "Some of us
have gotten older."

"It hasn' been that lon'," she replied. "If Ah didn' know be'ah, Ah
migh' almos think yah've become respectable."

Adam was becoming impatient. Elaine and Professor Stokes were talking
about things he didn't understand and he really didn't like the way
Elaine was looking at him. There was something ...wrong about it,
though what, the artificial man didn't know.

"I wouldn't go that far," the Professor was saying. "To get back to
Adam...."

"He'll need a change of clothin'," Elaine noted. "An' food. The
clothin' is doable. He's close enough tah Lucien's size Ah cn bahrah
some of his cast-offs until Ah cn go shoppin', but Ah don' cook.
Suppose Ah could always teach him. Would make fah a useful cahreah."

"I've found Adam to be an excellent pupil," Stokes offered. "Perhaps
that's been the problem, pushing his intellectual, rather than
emotional growth."

"Stop talking about me like I wasn't here," Adam suddenly demanded,
looking at Stokes. "I do not like this woman."

Elaine grabbed Adam by the ear and wrenched his head around. "Ah don'
caah what yah think of meh. From what Ah undahstand, someone's taught
yah that it's all right tah push people aroun' as lon' as yah biggah
then them an' it's mah job tah cahrec' that," she said in an angry
hiss. "The _onlay_ reason Ah'm doin' this is because Ah owe Professah
Stokes a favah an' he is the _onlay_ reason Ah promise not tah kill
yah. Othahwise, Ah couldn' caah less abou' yah."

Adam was just about to strike back -- how dare she hurt him! -- when
Professor Stokes interrupted.

"Adam, it's all right," he assured him. "This is for your own good.
Elaine's the best person for you right now and I wouldn't be leaving
you in her care if I didn't trust her implicitly. I'm doing this as
_your_ _friend_."

"_You_," Adam pointed a finger at Stokes, "are no longer my friend."

"Awww. Did poah precious Adam get his feelin's haht?" Elaine mocked.
"Ellayot, Ah reallay need tah get goin'. Anay thought on how Ah'm tah
do that an' still take Adam with meh?"

"Other than the way you came, no," Stokes answered. "Adam is wanted by
the police for the kidnapping of Carolyan Stoddard, which makes any
more open means of transport highly inadvisable."

"Then Ah guess theah's no choice in the ma'ah," Elaine sighed,
reaching out to Adam.

Adam tried to move back, out of range, but found himself frozen,
unable to avoid the hand Elaine placed on his temple.

"Adam, sleep."



When Adam woke, he found himself lying on a couch, in a strange room.
Checking under the sheet that was covering him, he discovered his
clothes were missing.

"Ah took the libahtay of cleanin' out yah shouldah an' pu'in' a fresh
bandage on it," Elaine said, standing in the doorway. "Ah'm amazed
Ellayot managed tah get the bullet out. He tends tah beh rathah
squeamish aroun' blood. Ah, a'cahse, have no such problem."

"You took my clothes!" Adam complained. "Where are they?"

"Bahned," she answered. "Ah needed tah see how extensive the scahin'
was an' once they wah off, Ah found they wah in too sahrah a state fah
anay othah fate. Yah'll find a new set beside yah on the tables.
Please do meh the favah of not pu'in' them on until yah've had a
bath."

"What was wrong with my clothes?" Adam continued. "I _liked_ those
clothes."

"O'viouslay, since yah've been weahrin' yah trousahs fah sev'ral
week." Elaine wrinkled her nose. "The bathroom is through the doah on
the left. Yah do know how tah use one?"

"Of course," Adam replied indignantly. "Professor Stokes showed me."

"Good. Yah tah bathe at least once a day. The toilet, nat'rallay, will
beh used as needed an' anay acciden's, Ah expec' yah tah clean them up
yahself. Failuah tah do sah will result in yah weahrin' a diapah," the
blonde detailed. "Now, go bathe an' weh'll convahse aftah yah get
out."

Adam didn't move.

"Well?" Elaine prompted.

"I do not want you to see me without clothes," the artificial man
explained.

Elaine bit back a laugh. This was unexpected. "Yah _shy_?! Adam, yah
ain' got nothin' Ah haven' seen befoah, manay times, an' what yah do
have, mos' men would give theah eyeteeth fah. Whoevah put yah togethah
cah'inlay didn' shaht change yah in that respect. Would it help if Ah
closed mah eyes?"

"That is ... good," Adam answered, surprised by the sudden question.
Hoping Elaine had already done as she said she would, he threw off the
covers and ran into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.



Ten minutes later, why Adam was sitting in the tub, Elaine opened the
door and came in.

Adam immediately grabbed his washcloth and stuck it in his lap.

"Go away," he ordered.

"Yah fahgot yah clothin'," she explained, placing the bundle on the
back of the toilet, then sitting down on the seat. "Ah thought yah
might like them. Ah tend tah keep the apah'men' coldah then mos'
people do, sah Ah've been told."

"Fine," Adam nodded. "Now go away."

Elaine didn't move. "Say 'thank yah' fahst."

"Why?" the artificial man asked.

"Because it's polite," Elaine answered. "Someone does somethin' fah
yah, yah respond with 'thank yah'. It lets the pahson know yah
appreciate the effaht."

Adam didn't answer.

"Ah said, say 'thank yah'," she repeated.

When Adam still didn't say anything, Elaine moved over to the tub,
faster than Adam could see, and grabbed his wrist between her thumb
and forefinger.

"Rule numbah one:  When Ah tell yah tah do somethin', yah do it," she
hissed, squeezing his wrist painfully. "Disobedience whill beh
punished. Cahrec' behaviah will likewise beh rewahded. Ah repeat, say
'thank yah, MissPahkah."

"Thank you, Miss Parker," Adam gasped.

"Yah verrah welcome," Elaine replied, abruptly letting go of the
wrist. "When yah get dressed, please leave yah shaht mos'lay
unbu'oned. Ah'll need tah check 'n' make shoah the bandage hasn' go'en
wet."

That said, the blonde turned and left the room.

Adam stared at the now-closed door in hatred, nursing his sore wrist.
Somehow, some way, he was going to make Elaine pay for what she had
done to him!



Fully clothed, Adam stepped out of the bathroom, intending to find
Elaine and choke the life out of her. Then he'd be free to find
Barnabus and get his revenge. Professor Stokes, too.

Unfortunately Elaine wasn't in the room. So Adam set about trying to
find her.

While bathing, the artificial man had noticed two other doors. They
were as good as any place to look for her.

The first door led to a bedroom. Nothing there interested Adam, though
he did notice the closet was full of black clothes, similar to the
ones he now had on.

From the bedroom, another door led out into a hallway. The third door
to the bathroom was there, as were some more door. Adam continued his
hunt and finally found Elaine behind a desk in what appeared to be a
library.

"Oh good, yah out," Elaine said, not looking up from her microscope
and notes. "Ah was beginnin' tah wondah if yah had gone an' drowned
yahself. Ah'm almos' at a stoppin' poin'. Why don' yah look aroun' an'
see if anaythin' catches yah fancay. Ellayot tol' meh yah have quite
an' inquisitive mind."

So much for sneaking up on her. Adam wandered the room, finally ended
up looking over Elaine's shoulder.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Tryin' tah figah out what makes yah tick, an' it's givin' meh a
headache," she answered. "Would yah like tah see?"

Elaine got up and motioned for Adam to sit in the chair. "Now, close
one of yah eyes an' with the othah, look through the eyepiece, heah,"
she instructed, pointing to where he should look.

Adam did as she said. "There are ... blurry things," he noticed.

"Heah, Ah'll change the focus," Elaine offered. " Le' meh know when
the blahs become cleah."

"Now!" Adam exclaimed a few seconds later. "They're discs! The blurs
are discs!"

"Verray good!" she congratulated him. "Those ah red blood cells.
They'ah what makes yah blood red when yah bleed. See anaythin' else in
theah besides the red cells?"

"Yes, There are white blobs along with the red blood cells. And ...
sticky things," Adam answered.

"The stickay thin's ah called platelets. They'ah what stops yah from
bleedin' tah death when yah cut yahself," the blond told him. "As fah
the white blobs, those ah white blood cells an' they'ah what's causin'
the problem."

Flipping to a fresh sheet of paper, Elaine drew what looked like a
twisted-up ladder to Adam.

"Now, Ah know yah can' see it, but inside the nucleus of each of the
white blood cells is a mass that looks like a plate of spage'i," she
continued. "Straigh'en that up an' it tahns intah the double helix
that Ah jus' drew. That's call DNA an' it's what make yah Adam."

"It does?" Adam asked, not understanding any of what Elaine had just
said. If it was too small to see, then how did she know it was there?

"Well, it's supposed tah. In anay nahmal pahson it does," Elaine
answered. "That's the problem. Ah've looked at three slides sah fah
an' ev'ry single clump of DNA Ah've found has been diff'ren'. Highlay
frustra'in'. An' yah not follahin' a wahd Ah'm sayin', ah yah?"

Elaine went over to one of the bookcases, scanned the titles and
pulled out a hefty tome.

"Heah," she said, handing it to Adam. "This'll explain it fah be'ah
then Ah evah could. Plus theah's pictahs sah yah cn see what Ah've
been tryin' tah explain."

Adam took the book and flipped through the pages, quickly finding the
chapter on blood. Sure enough, there were pictures of what he had just
seen in the microscope.

"Adam...," Elaine's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Ahn' yah
fahge'in' somethin'? What do weh say when someone does somethin' fah
us?"

What do we say? Oh, right. "Thank you, Miss Parker," the artificial
man answered absent-mindedly, engrossed in the book.

"Yah welcome," Elaine smiled.

Adam didn't want to admit it, but right then, he actually liked
Elaine. This was the first time since they'd met that the blonde
hadn't ordered him about, or made fun of him. Plus he _really_ like
the way she smiled.

The phone rang, preventing Adam from saying anything to her. Something
inside the artificial man told him he probably should be relieved by
that, but he wasn't quite sure if he was or not.

Elaine pushed a button on the phone on the desk and answered it. "Yes,
Debbay?"

"It's almost done," a female voice announced. "Want me to bring it up
when it is?"

"Han' on an' Ah'll ask him." Releasing the button, Elaine turned to
Adam. "Ah asked Debbay tah fix up a meal fah yah. Shall Ah have hah
brin' it up?"

"Yes. I am hungry," Adam nodded.

"Yes, _please_," Elaine corrected. "When yah wan' somethin' done,
frame the request with 'please', same as yah use 'thank yah' when they
do it fah yah. 'Please' tahns a demand intah a request an' us'allay
gets a be'ah result."

When Adam didn't respond, Elaine grabbed his wrist. "Yah got ten
seconds befoah Ah staht squeezin'," she told him. "One."

Nice seconds later, Adam gave in. "Yes, please."

Letting go of his wrist, Elaine smiled and pushed the button on the
phone again. "A'right, Debbay. Yah cn brin' it up."

"Sure thing, Mama 'Laine," Debbie answered. "Be right there. See ya."

"See yah," Elaine hung up.

"She called you Mama 'Laine," Adam observed.

"Sah she did," Elaine agreed.

"And Professor Stokes called you Elaine," he then remembered.

"An' Ah called him Ellayot," the blonde nodded.

"I call you Miss Parker," the artificial man concluded. "Why?"

"It's simple. Ah use diff'ren' titles dependin' on how the pahson
relates tah meh." Elaine led Adam out of the library and down the
hall. "Debbay calls meh Mama 'Laine because Ah raised hah mothah an'
gran'fathah. Ah'm Mama 'Laine tah the whole fam'lay."

"Grandfather? But you are not old enough to have raised anyone's
grandfather," Adam protested.

"Yah think sah?" Elaine smiled at him. "That's verrah kind of yah, but
Ah'm actuallay oldah then that. Ah passed mah hundredth bahthday quite
some time ago."

"I do not believe you!" Adam stated. "No one is that old. You are
lying!"

Elaine stopped in her tracks and grabbed Adam's arm, forcing him to
stand still. "Whethah oh not yah believe meh is yah decision," she
told him. "But know this, while Ah may sometimes leave out pahts of
the whole truth, fah both of ah safetays, upon mah Honah, yah have mah
Wahd as a Laday of the South, that Ah will nevah, _evah_ lie tah yah."

Letting the artificial man go, Elaine walked off, disappearing through
an open doorway.

Adam watched her leave. This was not the reaction he was used to. When
he had accused Barnabus, Doctor Hoffman or even Nicholas of lying to
him, they all had immediately assured him they weren't lying. Which
made him even less willing to believe them. But Elaine had not only
not done that, but she had acted like he had somehow hurt her by the
accusation. Adam hadn't understood half of what she had sworn by, but
whatever it was, it seemed important to her. And for an instant, he
had believed her.

But it still didn't explain how she could be as old as she said she
was.



Adam followed after Elaine, this time finding her in the kitchen,
pouring herself a drink from a long-necked, green bottle.

"Adam, Ah wish tah apologize fah the way Ah snapped at yah," she said,
taking a sip. "Theah was a time while Ah was growin' up when people
with mah heritage wah treated as second class an' theah Wahd
considahed useless. Ah'm... still a li'le sah abou' the ma'ah."

Huh? "What is apologize?" Adam asked.

"It's ... what yah do when yah've done somethin' yah eithah wish yah
hadn' oh shouldn' have. Us'al wahds ah 'Ah'm sahrah', oh 'Ah
apologize'," Elaine answered, stunned that Adam had to ask. Having to
insist on please and thank you were one thing, but this? "Yah mean no
one has evah apologized tah yah befoah?"

Adam didn't answer. Barnabus and the rest of them might have, but most
of the time, he'd been so tired of their excuses, he'd stopped paying
attention after a while. They were all lying anyway.

Biting her lip, Elaine mulled over what she had just learned. No
wonder Adam was the way he was, if no one had ever treated him with
common courtesy. But she needed some more information before making a
final judgment. And there was only one source of that currently
available.

"Would yah like somethin' tah drink?" she asked. "Ah have wine, Ah
think. Possiblay a couple bo'les of Coke. An' wa'ah, a'cahse. Nothin'
pahrishable, Ah'm afraid."

"Water is good," Adam answered, not being familiar with the other
options she had listed. When Elaine raised an eyebrow and looked at
him questioningly, he added, "Please."

Smiling, Elaine nodded and got a water goblet out of the cupboard,
filling it with water from the tap.

As Elaine passed Adam the glass, their hands briefly touched.

"Thank you," Adam said, letting neither the hand, nor the glass go.

"Dinner time!" a voice matching the one they had heard earlier
interrupted. "Oh. Is this a bad time?"

Adam turned and glared at the newcomer. Standing in the doorway was a
young woman, about Elaine's height, with shoulder-length brown hair
and brown eyes, pushing a cart loaded with food.

"On the contrahrah, Ah'd say yah timin' wah pahfec'," Elaine said,
going over to her. "Adam, this is Debbay. Debbay, Adam."

"Nice to meet you," Debbie smiled at him. "I can see what you mean
about the scars," she then said to Elaine. "Must've been a nasty
accident. Sure you want my help?"

"She is going to operate on me?" Adam asked. "She's too young to be a
doctor."

"I'm in med school," Debbie answered. "Almost went to Stanford except
Pop wanted me to go someplace Mama 'Laine could keep an eye on me."

"Ah needed someone tah look aftah the place. Jus' wish one of yah
brothahs oh sistahs could've come as well," Elaine shrugged. "Debbay,
yah shoah abou' the amoun' of food? Ah don' recall yah uncle oh
gran'fathah evah ea'in' that much in one si'in."

"Oh, it's not just for Adam, some of it's for me," Debbie said,
pushing the cart into the dining room. There's a midterm day after
tomorrow, so I thought I'd spent most of the night studying. Unless I
can get some 'help', Mama 'Laine?"

"Onlay tah put yah in the propah frame of mind," Elaine answered,
rubbing Debbie's shoulder. "Ahll go get the place se'in's. Adam, why
don' yah help Debbay put the food on the table." The blonde's eyes
sparkled playfully. "Please."

"So, you're living with Mama 'Laine, huh?" Debbie asked as soon has
Elaine has left. "Wow. That's impressive. I mean, I know Grandpa and
Mom grew up with her, but that's when they were _kids_. You must be in
your thirties. That's, like, _old_, man."

"Thirty is old?" Adam asked, confused. "But Miss Parker said she was
over one hundred years old."

"Oh, but that's different," Debbie answered. "Age doesn't matter to
Mama 'Laine. Or any of her kind. They never get old."

Her kind? "What is her kind?" Finally remember Elaine's orders, Adam
picked up a plate of foot and set it on the table.

"You mean you don't know?" Debbie smiled at him. "Oooh. Then I can't
tell you. Why don't you tell me how you got Mama 'Laine to agree to
fix your scars?"

"It was Professor Stokes," Adam told her. "He asked her to do it."

"Professor Stokes?" The brunette frowned. "Don't think I know a
Professor Stokes. 'Course, UoT is pretty big. Nobody knows all the
professors. I just barely remember the names of the ones I have each
semester." She giggled.

"But everyone knows Professor Stokes," Adam protested. "He is an
important man in Collinsport."

"Collinsport?" Debbie repeated. "Didn't Mama 'Laine tell you? We're
not in Collinsport, wherever that is. We're not even in the States.
This is Toronto. Canada."



Elaine listened carefully to the conversation in the other room. When
she had asked Debbie to cook for Adam, she had hoped the two would
like each other.

It was a safe assumption. Debbie was very fond of men, almost as much
as Elaine was, and that affection was returned tenfold. Plus Debbie
didn't have Elaine's problem with showing that affection.

Indeed, Debbie and Adam seemed to be getting on right well.

Giving Elaine the prefect means to civilize Adam.



Elaine returned to the dining room, loaded with plates, glasses and
silverware. "Ev'rythin' goin' a'right, Ah hope."

"Just swimmingly," Debbie answered, taking the dishes and setting them
on the table.

"Wondahful!" Elaine smiled. "Ah need tah go out fah a few hoahs.
Yah'll beh a'right until Ah get back?"

"Of course," Debbie said, finding the idea of being alone with Adam to
be _very_ appealing.

"You are leaving?" Adam asked.

"Not fah lon'," Elaine assured him. "Theah's a few errands Ah need tah
run that can' beh put off, Ah'm afraid."

"Then I will go with you," he decided.

"That's verrah sweet of yah, but Ah'd rathah go alone," the blonde
smiled at him. "Some of the places Ah'm goin', the patrons ah quick
tah take offense an' weh wouldn' wan' anaythin' tah happen tah yah,
now would weh?"

"If you go with Mama 'Laine, who's going to stay with me?" Debbie
added. "You wouldn't leave me all alone, would you?" She fluttered her
eyelashes at him.

"No, but...."

"All se'led then," Elaine said before Adam could finish his answer.
She went over to Debbie and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Now, yah
beh a good gahl an' remembah ev'rythin' that happens tonight,
a'right?"

"Thanks, Mama 'Laine," Debbie answered, kissing the blonde back. "Want
me to stay up until you get back?"

"Not if yah have ahlay classes tomahrah," Elaine told her. "Don'
worrah, Ah'll beh fine." 

Elaine moved over to Adam, made as if to kiss him, then stopped.
Instead, she reached out and stroked his head. "Yah behave yahself
while Ah'm gone, yah heah?"

Just as he had the previous night, Adam had tried to flinch away when
Elaine touched him and found it impossible. There was something about
the way the blonde had look at him that had frozen the artificial man
in his seat. And now dare she tell him to behave himself! He was
bigger than both of the women and he'd do what he wanted!

"I will behave," Adam found himself promising. 

Huh? Why'd he say that?

"Theah now, was that sah hahd? Keep it up an' yah'll beh out in public
in no time." Smiling, Elaine left.



"She did something!" Adam exploded after Elaine had left. "Miss Parker
did something to me!"

"Only because she wanted to be sure I was safe while she's out, I'm
sure," Debbie told him. "I've never known her to hurt anyone she's
caring for."

"She did hurt me. She hurt my wrist." Adam held up the injured arm for
her to look at.

"She did? Let me see." Debbie got up and went around the table.
"There's a bruise, but that'll be gone in a couple of days. Can you
bend your wrist and make a fist?"

"Yes," he said, showing her.

"Then she didn't really hurt you," she answered. "She can, you know."

"She can?" Adam repeated.

Eyes wide, Debbie slowly nodded. "Growing up, there was one time when
a _burglar_ broke in and woke Mama 'Laine up. By the time she was done
with him, we had to replace all the furniture, the floor and
everything, there was so much blood. That is, like, _so_ unhip."

She did? "But she is no bigger than Caroline," Adam protested.

"Caroline?" Debbie picked up on the name. "Is that your girlfriend?"

"I have no girlfriend," Adam told her, quite truthfully. Caroline had
rejected him, and Eve.... He didn't want to think about Eve.

"That's good." Debbie smiled until another thought struck her. "You
don't prefer boys, do you? It's okay if you do. Mama 'Laine says God
just makes some people like that and who am I to argue with God?"

"Like boys?" Adam repeated. "Instead of girls?"

"Uh huh," the brunette nodded. "And there's some women who prefer
other women, too. They're all over the place back home."

A chill went down Adam's spine. Not to mention the knot that was
forming in his stomach. "I like girls!" he told her emphatically.

"Great!" Debbie exclaimed, with a little too much enthusiasm. "Ooh, I
shouldn't have said that. Mama 'Laine says it's not a good idea for a
girl to show too much interest in a man, even if she does like him."

"You like me?" Adam repeated. 

"What I've seen of you so far, I do," Debbie answered, returning to
her seat. "Of course, I don't know that much about you yet. Why don't
you eat your dinner and tell me what you're like. Starting with the
first thing you remember."

Wanting to make a good impression, Adam very carefully cut his food
with his knife and fork. "My first memory is waking up on a table," he
told her.

"After your accident?" Debbie asked. "And you don't remember anything
before that?"

"No." Adam shook his head.

"You poor dear," she cooed. "So what happened after that?"

Adam continued his story. He treatment at the hands of Willie and
Barnabus bought him some sympathetic looks, especially when he
described the beating. And she quietly cheered when he told her about
Professor Stokes teaching him to read and write. The death of Sam
Evans, however, caused Debbie to frown, and the drown deepened as he
told her about Barnabas, Nicholas and trying to create a mate.

"What I don't get," Debbie said after he was done, "is why you went to
so much trouble to get a girlfriend. What's wrong with finding one the
usual way?"

"I am too ugly," Adam told her. "Even Eve said so."

"And you believed her?" Debbie tsked. "I wouldn't believe anything
that woman told you. She's mean."

"Then what about Caroline?" Adam reminded her. "She rejected me."

"Of course, she did," the brunette answered. "You kidnapped her and
tried to kill her at least twice. No matter how much a girl likes you
after all that, it's always going to be hanging over your heads. You
can't force love."

"Then no one will ever love me," the artificial man pouted.

"Not if you keep acting like a spoiled brat, they won't." Debbie sat
back in her chair and thought for a moment. "Adam, you remember how
you felt when Willie took that chicken from you? Or when Barnabus beat
you? You didn't like that, did you?"

Adam shook his head. "No, but --"

"Then how do you think Barnabus and Doctor Hoffman felt when you kept
threatening to kill everyone?" she pointed out. "See, the secret to
getting what you want in life is to treat people the way you want them
to treat you. Be nice to them, and they'll usually be nice to you
back. Be mean, and they'll be mean right back at you."

"But I am stronger than everyone else," Adam protested.

"So?" Debbie cocked her head in a very Elaine-like manner. "Just
because you're bigger than other people doesn't mean you can go around
bullying them. Do that and you usually meat someone who can beat _you_
up, or more people than you can handle. Ever been to prison."

"Yes. In Collinsport." The artificial man filled Debbie in on the time
he spent there and how the deputy had treated him.

"That's jail, not prison," Debbie corrected, shaking her head.
"Prison's _worse_. There, they lock you in chains and force you to
make _license_ _plates_!"

"This is a bad thing?"

Debbie nodded. "I had some friends, who went to prison after Berkeley
and when they were out, they were totally different." The brunette
paused. "Well, it was that or the acid they dropped right before they
went it. But you get the idea."

Adam did get the idea, even though he didn't know understand why
anyone would want to deliberately drop a flask of sulfuric acid. He
never wanted to go to prison!



"Ah, Adam. Come on in." Elaine put down her pen and looked up at the
artificial man, who had just entered the library. "Ah'd like tah get
stah'ed on cahrec'in' yah scahs tonight, if yah don' mind."

"Tonight?" Adam repeated.

"Unless yah have some othah plan. Moah lessons with Debbay pahhaps?"
the blonde teased. "Othahwise, theah's no sense in pu'in' it off.
Debbay's on vacation from school, sah she's free tah assist meh. An'
yah blood wahk all looks good."

"No, tonight is good," Adam agreed. 

"Wondahful," Elaine smiled. "Ah thought weh'd staht with yah
midsection. That way, should anaythin' go wron', anay remainin' scahs
will onlay beh seen by someone who won' caah abou' them, an' weh'll
beh able tah cahrec' ah proceduah by the time weh reach yah face."

"Go wrong?" Adam repeated. "No, nothing will go wrong."

"Oh, reallay?" Elaine arched an eyebrow and smiled mockingly. "An' jus
how ah yah goin' tah make shoah of that, may Ah ask? Theah is always a
risk, with anay type of sahgeahray. Ah've seen people die from a cut
on the fingah an' while medicine has advanced consid'rablay since
then, it's still not entiahlay foolproof."

"Then I will hurt you," the artificial man threatened.

Elaine moved the papers she'd been looking at to one side of the desk
and stood up. "Try it," she dared him.

Ignoring the warning bells going off in his head, Adam decided to take
Elaine up on her offer. He walked around the desk, put his hands
around the blonde's throat and squeezed.

And squeezed.

And squeezed.

Elaine merely tilted her head and looked at him. "Yah done yet?" her
expression seemed to say.

Not knowing what else to do, Adam removed his hands.

"Ah think yah'll find that yah'll have tah do much moah then that tah
haht me," Elaine told him. But _yah_ not sah invuln'rable."

Before Adam could move out of the way, Elaine lashed out with her left
hand. The artificial man flew across the room and crashed into a
bookcase before falling to the floor.

To add insult to injury, two books fell off the shelves and dropped
onto his head.

"That hurt!" Adam exclaimed, shaking his head clear. "I do not like
you anymore!"

"Ah thought yah alreaday didn' like meh. Oh did yah change yah min in
the meantime?" Elaine remarked, going over to him. "Ellayot wahned meh
abou' yah tempah tantrums. Ah'm amazed anayone put up with them back
in Collinspaht. If Ah evah acted that way growin' up, Mammay would
have tanned mah hide, but good. An' it wouldn' beh sah hahd tah do the
same fah yahself. Howevah, Ah'll make yah a deal. Yah don' go abou'
threatenin' tah haht anayone, oh hah'in' anayone without the threats,
an' Ah won' backhand yah. Agreed?" She held her hand out to him.

Adam thought it over. While he didn't care about not hurting Miss
Parker, he hadn't like it when she had hurt him. And he didn't want to
hurt Debbie. He liked her. And he remembered something Elaine had told
him.

"You give Word?" he asked the blonde.

If yah'll give yahs," she nodded.

"Then I ... try," Adam agreed, taking her hand. For some reason, he
had a feeling that trying would be a better answer than just promising
not to hurt anyone.

He was right. "All se'led then," Elaine's smile broadened as she
helped him to his feet.

There wa way she brushed the hair out of her eyes, looking up at him,
and the way she licked her lips, just made him want to kiss her. Then
the moment was shattered and Elaine was back to the witch he hated.

"Now, theah's still the ma'ah of which anesthetic tah use," she said,
returning to her desk. "The usual procedah is tah use gen'ral, but
that would requiah a thahd pahson tah become involved, since that's
not Debbay's field, plus theah's a risk yah'll wake up on the table."

"No anesthetic!" Adam insisted. "No needles!"

"Then a local would beh out, too," Elaine nodded, having expected that
answer. "Which would pose a problem, excep' theah is a thahd option.
Adam, yah remembah when weh fahs' met, how Ah tol' yah tah sleep an'
yah did?"

"I remember," Adam said. "How did you do that?"

"It's jus' somethin' mah fam'lay's picked up ovah the yeahs," Elaine
shrugged off the question. "But the poin' is, Ah cn do it again, tah
make shoah yah sleep through the opahration. If yah'll let meh."

"Why must I let you?" Adam asked. "You did it before."

"Yah didn' know abou' it befoah," Elaine pointed out. "Debbah tells
meh yah figahed it out las' time. One of the requiahmen's of this
pahticulah... trick is that the pahson Ah'm doin' it tah has tah
_wan'_ what Ah'm sugges'in' on some level. Othahwise, it doesn' wahk."

"You can not make me sleep unless I want to sleep," Adam thought it
through. "I will let you, if you give Word no putting ideas in my
head."

"The thought _nevah_ entahed mah mind," Elaine assured him. "Now,
theah's still a few thin's tah set up, sah why don' yah wait heah
until Debbay comes tah fetch yah? Find yahself a book tah keep yahself
occupayed in the me

Gathering up her notes, Elaine left the room, leaving Adam alone with
his thoughts.



"'In a breed which has been crossed only once with some distinct
breed, the tendency to reversion to any character derived from such
cross will naturally become less and less, as in each succeeding
generation there will be less of the foreign blood; but when there has
been no cross with a distinct breed, and there is a tendency in both
parents to revert to a character, which has been lost during some
former generation, this --'"

The book was grabbed out of Adam's hands.

"I was reading that!" the artificial man protested. "Give it back!"

"I noticed," Debbie said, smiling at him. "I've been trying to get
your attention for the last five minutes and now I've had to go and
make myself unsterile and it's all your fault. Mama 'Laine's all ready
for you, if you can stand leaving your book. Personally, I've always
found Darwin long-winded and boring."

No problem. He didn't want to admit it, but Adam had been finding the
book a little hard to get through. "Good," he said, standing up.
"Where."

"This way." Debbie took Adam's hand and led him out of the library,
down stairs and into a small room with a mirror and a chair.

"Mama 'Laine says you're supposed to take off all your clothes,
including your underwear, and put on the gown so the opening's in the
back. That's on the chair," she then told him. "I'll help, if you
want."

"Thanks," Adam answered, as he picked up the cotton robe and found he
was unable to make heads or tails of it. "Turn around while I
undress."

"Spoilsport," Debbie murmured under her breath while she did as he
requested. Good thing he hadn't realized she was facing the mirror, so
the view wasn't entirely spoiled.

Nice view, too, she thought. Too bad it was ruined by all those scars.
Something funny about the way they were laid out....

"So. Adam. You never did tell me what you thought of Darwin," she
said, distracting herself.

"Who?" Adam asked.

"You know. _On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or
the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life,_" Debbie
rattled off. "The book you reading."

Oh. Right. "Interesting theories," he answered. "You?"

"I think he's very good considering that's the first time anyone wrote
down evolution," she said. "He got some things wrong, of course."

"He did?" Adam thought over what he had read. Course, he hadn't read
much when she had interrupted. "Where?"

"There's the idea that we're always evolving, for one this," Debbie
replied. "That's just plain silly. I mean, if we were always evolving,
we'd have to be evolving into _something_ and how would Nature know
what to turn us into? It's not like She can look five hundred years
into the future, find out we need a third eye and decide now would be
a good time to start working on it? Not to mention, the ones who got
the third eye before they needed it would likely get themselves killed
off anyway. It makes much more send to suddenly need a third eye, then
develop one. See what I mean?"

"I do," Adam nodded. "You are good at explaining things."

"Thank you," she said, blushing. "You have all your clothes off yet?"

"Yes. But I need help with the gown," he admitted.

"Here, hand it over and I'll fix it," Debbie said, holding a hand out
over her shoulder.

Adam did as she said.

"Thanks." Debbie took the garment and shook it open. "Now, I'm going
to turn around with my eyes shut, and when I do, I want you to put
your arms in the sleeves. Okay?"

"Okay."

Debbie turned and a short time later, Adam was wearing the gown.

Almost wearing, anyway. "But.... My...," he complained, trying to
close robe behind him.

"Welcome to the wonderful world of being a patient," Debbie said
wryly. "Come on, it's this way." Taking his hand again, the brunette
led Adam out of the room.


The room Debbie led him to was different than any Adam had seen
before.

It certainly wasn't like the room at the Old House in Collinswood,
where the experiments were done. That had been a dark basement. This
was an antiseptic, tiled room with lots of light. There weren't any of
the machines that were in the basement, either. Just a long, padded
table in the middle of the room and a smaller tray/table with
instruments on it.

And, of course, the basement lab didn't have Miss Parker waiting for
him.

"Debbay, yah unsterile," the blonde said, glaring at the held hands.
"Go wash up again an' come back heah when yah done."

"Yes, Mama 'Laine." Debbie let go of Adam and left the room.

"Adam, Ah wan' yah tah come ovah heah an' sit on the table," Elaine
then instructed. "It's easayah tah hypnotize yah when Ah cn look yah
in the eyes."

Adam did as she said.

"Jus' sah yah know, this is a cotton ball dipped in alcohol," she told
him, taking the ball and rubbing it over Adam's temple. "Ah've found
hypnotism tah beh easayah when Ah cn touch the subject. The alcohol
will clean the areah sah Ah cn do sah without pickin' up anay
bactahriah that might compromise the sahgeahray."

"It's cold!" Adam protested, flinching away.

"Meahlay the alcohol evapahra'in' on yah skin," she assured him. "Can'
yah handle a li'le chill?"

Instead of answering, the artificial man glared at her.

"All se'led then." Elaine put down the cotton ball and continued,
placing her fingers on the spot she had just cleaned. "Now then, when
Ah tell yah, Ah wan' yah tah lie face down on the table with yah ahms
undah yah head an' yah face tah one side. Once yah've done that, yah
will immediatelay fall intah a deep sleep in which yah will feel no
pain an' in which yah will remain until Ah tell yah tah awaken. Do yah
undahstand?"

"I understand," Adam answered in a flat tone.

"Verrah good." The blonde smiled. "Now do as yah instructed."

As Adam followed orders, Elaine walked around the table to the trey.

"Yah readay yet, Debbay?" she called out. "Ah can' do this alone, yah
know."

"Coming!" Debbie reappeared, drying her hands on a paper towel. "Sorry
about this, but Adam was reading and the only way I could get his
attention was to take his book away."

"It's a'right. Ah was goin' tah send yah out of the room anayway.
Didn' wan' yah fallin' asleep alon' with Adam," Elaine answered. "Wah
his lips movin' as he read?"

"Yes, but only because he was reading Darwin. _My_ lips move when I
read Darwin," Debbie said, then frowned. "Are you sure this is going
to work?"

"Nope," Elaine answered. "It's nevah been done befoah, sah Ah can' beh
shoah abou' anaythin'. But between mah resahch an' Sophia's, Ah cn
make a few educa'ed guesses an' it should wahk. Scalpel." 

Debbie handed it to her.

Taking the instrument, Elaine sliced off a two inch section of scar
tissue. She then used the scalpel to cut open her left index finger,
letting her blood drip into the open wound.  

A few seconds later, Adam's skin sealed back up, leaving no trace of
scar behind.


Adam stretched, smacked his lips twice and opened his eyes.

And sat bolt upright, gripping the sheet in front of him.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded.

"Wakin' yah up," Elaine answered. "It's been three days. Debbay was
ge'in' worrahed."

"_Three_ _days_"?! Adam repeated. "Why did you not wake me before?"

"The proceduah Ah used tah cahrect the scahrin' involves a substance
that cn cause abnahmal behaviah," she explained. "Ah though it best
tah let yah sleep until it wah off."

"What abnormal behavior?" the artificial man asked. "Is it dangerous?"

"It can beh," Elaine admitted. "The fahst time Ah was exposed tah it,
Ah ended up pregnant. The second time, Ah threatened tah shoot mah
husband's head off. Ah'm used tah it now, but theah ah still times
when Ah lose control of mahself."

"Then why did you use it, if it is so dangerous? And why did you not
warn me?" Adam pointed out.

"Slipped mah mind," the blonde admitted. "Ah don' like thinkin' abou'
that paht of mah life, sah Ah didn' remembah until yah wah sleepin'.
Ah use it because it wahks be'ah then anaythin' else Ah've found.
Heah." Elaine handed Adam a mirror. "Theah's anothah mirrah behind the
doah. Stand facin' way an' look at yahself in the lahge mirrah usin'
the small one. Then aftah yah dressed, come out. Ah'm shoah yah
hungray."

After Elaine left, Adam did as she suggested. The difference was
incredible. Smooth skin where there had only been ugly bumps before.

Adam couldn't wait until the rest of him was done. He quickly got
dress, enjoying how easily his underwear slid over his backside, then
headed for breakfast.



"Adam, you're awake!" Debbie put down the serving dish she was
carrying, went over to him and gave the artificial man a big kiss.

Debbie was a better kisser than Carolyn, Adam decided. Even if he
didn't quite understand what she was doing with her tongue.

"I missed you," she continued, hugging him tightly. "I know Mama
'Laine said you were just sleeping, but I was so afraid something went
wrong."

"Then yah should have had moah faith," Elaine chastised, entering the
room. "Debbay, if yah'd caah tah release Adam, weh cn get on with the
meal. Ah though weh could wahk on Adam's table mannah while weh'ah
wai'in' tah do the nex' sahgeahray."

"What is wrong with my manners?" Adam asked. "I have good manners."

"Good mannahs fah a Yank, yah mean," Elaine corrected. "Ah though yah
might like the oppahtunitay tah become a propah gen'leman."

"Don't worry, it's not hard," Debbie told him, squeezing his hand
reassuringly. "Not all women are raving feminists. Some of us still
like being treated like ladies."

"Do you?" Adam asked her.

"Definitely," Debbie nodded, leading him to the table. "If a man won't
hold the door or pull the chair out for you, odds are he won't respect
you in the morning, either. Can't have one without the other."

"Then I will learn," Adam decided. Anything to make Debbie happy.



"I do not understand." Adam threw the napkin across the room. It flew
for five feet, then fell limply on the table. "What difference does it
make if it is in my lap or around my neck?"

"The difference is how people will pahsieve yah," Elaine explained for
the umpteenth time. "An' whethah yah wan' tah beh treated like an
uncouth lout oh a civilized adult."

"Think of it this way," Debbie suggested. "Would you rather act like
Willie or Barnabus?"

"I want to act like Adam!" Adam declared. "I do not need to pretend to
be anyone else."

"Of course you don't. And I wouldn't want you to anyway. I like you
the way you are," Debbie assured him "That's not what I meant. You
said people liked Barnabus more than Willie, right?"

"Everyone likes Barnabus," Adam admitted. "I hate Barnabus. Barnabus
shot me."

"Yes, I know, and that was mean of him," the brunette cooed. "I just
wanted to point out that they liked him and one of the reasons they
did was because of his manners. Wouldn't it be fun to go back to
Collinsport someday and have everyone like _you_?" 

"That would be good," Adam nodded, fairly drooling over the idea.
"That would be very good. Napkin goes on lap?"

"That's right. Yah napkin goes on yah lap," Elaine smiled. "Debbay,
theah's someboday at the doah. Yah expec'in' anayone?"

"Don't think so," Debbie said, frowning. "You want me to go down and
check?" 

"Why don' weh have Adam do it?" Elaine suggested. "Adam, yah feel up
tah mee'in' people?"

"Yes, please," Adam nodded eagerly. Not that he didn't like Debbie and
even Miss Parker at times, but they were the only ones he had seen for
the past several weeks.

"Verrah well. Debbay, why don' yah go with him, tah show him the way,"
Elaine decided.

"Yes, Mama 'Laine. C'mon, Adam." Debbie took Adam's hand and led him
out of the room.



Adam opened the front door and glared at the young man standing there.
"What do you want?"

"P-package for Elaine LaCroix," the man stammered.

Adam was just about to slam the door in the man's face when Debbie
stepped in front of him.

"I'll take it," she said. "Do I need to sign anything?"

"No! I mean, that's fine." The delivery man shoved the box he'd been
holding into Debbie's hands. "See ya, Frank," He then tipped his hat
at Adam, and quickly left.

"Who is Frank?" Adam asked as he shut the door. "Why did that man call
me Frank?"

"I'm not talking to you," Debbie said, walking off. "You were rude to
that man and I don't talk to rude people."

Adam quickly followed after her. "I don't understand. What rude? How
was I rude?"

Debbie stopped abruptly and turned, causing Adam to almost crash into
her. "First you asked the man what he wanted, without even a hello,
then you practically slam the door in the poor man's face. And all he
wanted to do was drop this off." Waving the package in Adam's face,
she turned again and walked off.

Adam started after Debbie, then stopped. If Debbie didn't want to talk
to Adam, fine. He wouldn't talk to her, either!


"May Ah come in?" Elaine asked, knocking on Adam's door.

"Yes," Adam answered. Not that he wanted to see her at that moment,
since it was Miss Parker's fault that Debbie was mad at him. But he
knew she'd come in anyway, whether he wanted her to, or not.

Besides, there was something ... funny in Miss Parker's voice. An odd
catch that Adam had never heard before.

Miss Parker opened the door and stepped inside. She was rolling a
white rosebud through her fingers and there was an odd look in her
eyes that seemed to match her voice.

"It appeahs that Ah have been called away fah a few days," she told
him. "Debbay alreaday know. If Ah'm not back by the time yah tiahed of
Debbay not talkin' tah yah, theah's flowahs in the basement. Go
downstaahs like yah did fah the doah, onlay keep goin' down. Pick
sev'ral, by breakin' them off at the stem, then take them tah Debbay
an' ask what yah did wron' an' what yah should have done. Yah'll beh
amazed how well that wahks."

"You are leaving?" Adam ask, only hearing part of what she had said.
"Why? How long will you be gone?"

"Ah ... don' know," Elaine answered. "Tah both questions. Find out
when Ah get theah, Ah suppose. Now if yah'll excuse meh?" The blonde
turned to leave.

Adam moved to block her exit. "No, I do not understand. If you do not
know why you are going, why are you leaving?"

"_Because_ _Ah_ _have_ _tah!_" Elaine snapped, pushing him out of the
way and into the wall. "Do yah think cleanin' up yah ass is the onlay
thin' on my mind? Ah have othah dutays an' obligations that take
precident ovah anaythin' else an' always will!" Turning, Elaine walked
down the hall and out of sight.



By the time Elaine had been gone for three days, Adam was thoroughly
sick of Debbie being mad at him. She still refused to speak to him.
The only time Adam even saw her was at meal, and that was mere
glimpses as she served the food.

As much as he hated to admit it, Adam missed her.

So on the fourth day, Adam decided to take Miss Parker's advice and
headed downstairs.

The room was like nothing Adam had ever seen before. The center was
taken up by a very large bathtub, so big a hundred Adams could have
taken a bath without touching. Surrounding the tub were several long
chairs, just in case someone got worn out bathing, Adam guessed. And
along the walls were more plants than Adam had ever seen indoors
before.

There was one other thing in the room. Something that made Adam both
glad he had come, and wishing he hadn't at the same time.

"What are you doing here?" Debbie asked, glaring up at him from behind
her book.

Adam didn't answer. The minute he had seen her lying there, wearing...
wearing ... Adam wasn't sure what Debbie was wearing, but whatever it
was, there sure wasn't much of it, his mouth had gone totally dry and
he'd been unable to speak. He swallowed and swallowed, but no words
came.

"Uh-huh." Sensing she wasn't going to get an answer, Debbie closed her
book and got up to leave.

As she sashayed past Adam, the artificial man suddenly found his
voice. "No!" he blurted out. "I don't want you to go!"

Debbie stopped and turned. One eyebrow was raised in a manner that
reminded Adam of Miss Parker. "Oh?"

"I ... do not want you angry with me anymore," he admitted. "How do I
make you not angry?"

With a thoughtful look on her face, Debbie walked back over to Adam.
"Well, first you can say that you're sorry for the way you treated
that poor fellow the other day," she suggested.

"I'm sorry for the way I treated that man the other day," Adam
dutifully repeated.

"And you have to promise to work on your manners and try to be nicer
to people," she added.

"I promise," Adam agreed, with every intention of keeping his word.
"What else?"

"Just one more thing," Debbie assured him. "A kiss."

A requirement Adam was more than happy to fulfill. He even managed to
do some of those tongue-things Debbie had shown him last time.

After they broke apart, Debbie led Adam by the hand to the chairs and
sat back down. "So. Why'd you come down here, anyway?" she asked,
patting the seat next to her.

Again, Adam's mouth ran dry. Not only that, but his pants sudden felt
two sizes too small. He sat down quickly, hoping she wouldn't notice.
"Miss Parker said I should pick flowers and take them to you to
apologize," he explained.

"So why don't you go do it then?" Debbie suggested, stretching out on
the chair.

Adam's jeans became even more tight, if that was possible. "Now?" he
asked, failing to understand  why he should. "But you have already
forgiven me."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Debbie pointed out. "It's
always good to give a girl flowers, even when you haven't done
anything wrong."

O-kay. It still didn't make any sense to Adam, but he decided he
didn't want to make Debbie angry at him again so soon. "Which flowers
do you want?"

"Whichever you feel like picking," Debbie shrugged. "Doesn't matter."

With that in mind, Adam got up and went over to one of the walls of
flowers.

"Not those," Debbie told him. "I don't like daisies."

So Adam move left, to another kind of flower.

"Hyacinths give me a headache. Why don't you try over there," she
suggested, pointing.

After a few more minutes of coaching, Adam found the flowers Debbie
wanted, and picked three of them for her.

"My favorite!" Debbie exclaimed as he brought them over. "How ever did
you know?"

For a brief instant, Adam found himself wishing he was back in the
prison cell underneath the Old House at Collinswood. Not only that,
but he had an odd desire to bang his head into its brick wall.

But that wasn't the reason Adam didn't answer. Something else had
attracted his attention.

"You like my swimming suit?" Debbie asked, preening under his gaze.
"It's not too revealing, is it?"

Revealing wasn't the word for it. The only time Adam had seen more
skin was in anatomy book. 

"It is ... very pretty," Adam told her. "What is a swimming suit?"

"It's what you wear where when you go swimming," Debbie answered.
"Haven't you ever gone swimming before?"

Adam shook his head.

"Then I'll just have to teach you."

There was a strange look in Debbie's eyes. One Adam wasn't sure he
trusted. But he didn't resist when Debbie took his hand and led him
over to the giant bath tub.

"This is a swimming pool," she told him. "It's not for washing in,
it's for fun. Like this."

Debbie suddenly shoved Adam, pushing him into the pool.

The water closed in over Adam's head, filling his mouth and lungs when
he tried to cry out.

At first he panicked, thrashing about in the water. Then memories of
his fall off Widow's Hill surfaced. They calmed Adam down, reminding
the artificial man that he had survived that incident, and he would
survive this one as well.

Adam broke the surface just in time to go under again as Debbie flew
over his head.

At least this time he was able to take a breath first.

While he was submerged, Adam felt something pulling at his legs. At
first, he kicked out at the intruder. Then Adam realized it had to be
Debbie. So he let her continue unhindered.

Debbie spread Adam's knees apart, then started on of his feet moving
in a circular motion. Once she was sure he would continue on his own,
she moved to the other side and repeated her actions.

The hands vanished. Several seconds later, Debbie's head rose out of
the water. Adam noticed that she was making the same movements under
the water that he was.

"Move your arms like this," she told him, waving her hands back and
forth in the water.

"You pushed me!" Adam accused, struggling unsuccessfully to move
closer to her.

"Of course I did," Debbie laughed, swimming away. "That's how you
learn to swim. That's how I learned, and my parents, and their
parents.... Everybody. Here, move your hands like this and kick your
legs behind you." She shifted to dog paddling.

Adam did so, imitating her as best he could. Soon, he found himself
moving forward. "I'm swimming!" he realized.

"That's called Dog Paddling," Debbie nodded, moving to the side of the
pool. "Now, come over here and I'll help you take your clothes off."

"My clothes?!" In the brief panic that ensued, Adam forgot to keep
padding and sank under the water. "Why?" he asked as soon as he
resurfaced.

"Because they're weighing you down and making it harder for you to
swim," Debbie explained. "Besides, nobody swims in their clothes. They
either wear a swimming suit or nothing. You don't have a suit, so your
underwear will have to do."

Oh. "What is wrong with my clothes?" he asked. Not that he intended to
take everything off in front of her. He was just curious, that's all.

"Depends. If you're with a group of men-friends, and you all decide to
go skinny-dipping, then it's okay, as long as you're in a mostly
private place where people won't stumble on you by accident," Debbie
explained. "If you're with girls, or in a public place, then you need
a suit. Unless it's just one girl and you're _really_ good friends, of
course."

"We are not good enough friends?" Adam asked, joining her at the side
of the pool.

"It wouldn't be ethical as long as I'm helping Mama 'Laine fix your
scars," Debbie answered, shaking her head. "We can be friends, just
not _really_ _good_ friends. Need help with your shirt?"

"I can do it," Adam snapped. Hanging onto the edge of the pool with
one hand, he unbuttoned his shirt with the other. Then with Debbie's
help, he slid his arms out of the sleeves, one at a time, crumpled the
shirt up and tossed it in one of the chairs.

Adam's undershirt proved to be more difficult. After several
unsuccessful attempts, he and Debbie finally came up with a plan that
worked. Debbie eased the shirt up as far as she could under Adam's
arms. Adam took a deep breath, and ducked under the water, raising his
arms above his head and Debbie yanked the shirt the rest of the way
off. It then joined the other shirt at the chairs.

Debbie took a look at Adam and smiled.

"What?" Adam asked, still smarting from when she had told him they
were just friends.

"It's nothing," she answered. "I think I've figured out why that man
called you Frank the other day. That's all."

"You did? What?"

But all Debbie would do was shake her head. "Not here. Wait til we're
out and I'll show you. Now about your pants...."

Like the undershirt, Adam's pants proved too difficult for him to take
off by himself. Debbie went to do it, got the first button undone, and
stopped.

"I just realized, why don't you keep your jeans on," she said, coming
up for air. "I forgot what happens when white undies get wet. Hang on
and I'll get your shoes and socks."

Adam waited patiently while Debbie dove back under. Most of the time,
he wondered what did happen to white underwear when it got wet, but
then he decided it wasn't important. If anything, having his jeans on
made him feel somehow safer, even if they were shrinking by the
second.

A short time later, Debbie was back up and Adam's shoes and socks were
with the rest of his clothes.

"Ready for your first swimming lesson?" she asked.

"I thought I already knew how to swim," Adam answered. "Was that not
what you showed me?"

"That was just treading water and dog paddling," Debbie said, shaking
her head. "I'm talking _real_ swimming. Like this." Pushing off of the
edge, Debbie quickly swam the length of the pool and back.

It took her a lot less time to swim that distance than it had for Adam
just to get to the edge, he noted. "Yes!" he exclaimed when Debbie
returned. "Teach me how to swim!"

"Say please," Debbie laughed merrily, staying just out of reach of
Adam's arms.

Adam almost blushed when he realized he's forgotten to say the word.
He still didn't quite understand why, even though Miss Parker had
explained it to him, but it was very important to her and Debbie.
"Please."

But Debbie wasn't done yet. "Say pretty please."

O-kay. "Pretty please."

"Pretty please with sugar on top."

"Pretty please with sugar on top," Adam repeated, becoming
exasperated.

"Thank you," Debbie smiled, swam up next to Adam and gave him a kiss.
"Now, the first thing you need to know is the proper way to kick. Hang
on to the edge and stretch out like this...."



After an hour, Debbie called it quits. Most of the lesson had been
very frustrating for her. Adam couldn't get it into his head that he
had to flow through the water, and not fight against it. There'd been
some progress towards the end, but by that time, she'd become tired.

"All right, Adam," she said, climbing out of the pool. "Time to hit
the showers."

"But I am already wet," Adam protested.

"Yeah, with pool water. Full of chlorine and other nasty stuff that'll
itch like crazy if you don't wash it off," Debbie told him. "I've even
seen it turn my friends' hairs green, but you don't have to worry
about that."

"I don't?" Adam asked, becoming worried. A lot of that water had ended
up going down his throat.

"You're a brunet, silly, " Debbie pointed out. "Even if your hair did
turn green, no one would notice because the brown would cover it. Now,
come on out, and I'll show you where the showers are."

Adam got out of the pool and followed her. She led him to a door on
the far side of the pool, from which two corridors led off.

"That's the men's shower," she said, pointing to the right. "Leave
your wet clothes on a bench, and I'll be in with fresh ones as soon as
I'm done. I promise not to peek." Debbie headed down the hallway on
the left.

Adam watched her go. Okay, so most of the time his eyes were on the
funny way her buttocks moved when she walked. Then he turned and went
the way Debbie had indicated.



Fortunately, Professor Stokes had had a shower at his house, as Adam
really didn't relish having to ask Debbie what to do.

Adam unbuttoned his jeans and pushed them and his underwear to the
floor. Now if he could just get part of himself pointing in the same
direction.

He knew what was happening. Now that Debbie was gone, he was calm
enough to remember what he'd read in some of Miss Parker's books.

Adam had an erection.

Too bad he didn't know what to do about it. The books he'd read had a
solution, but they said he had to be married first, and that there
were all sorts of nasty things that would happen to him if he tried
them and he wasn't. There was one possibility, which didn't sound as
... interesting as the other solutions, but at least it wouldn't make
... _it_ fall off.

Adam stepped into the shower and turned the cold water on, full blast.



It was several minutes before Adam felt ready to face Debbie again. By
that time, the brunette had come and gone with his clothes. So after
getting dressed, Adam headed upstairs.

"Debbie!" he called out. "Where are you?"

"In the kitchen," she answered. "Making popcorn."

"What's popcorn?" Adam asked, following the sound of her voice.

He found her in front of the stove, moving a covered pan back and
forth.

"Don't you know what popcorn is?" Debbie teased. "You'll find out,
soon enough. You could help. Get us out of here that much sooner."

"Sure," Adam shrugged. "What do I do?"

"For starters, you could get a stick of butter out of the fridge," she
suggested. "Can't have popcorn without butter."

Adam opened the refrigerator. After several seconds, he found a
rectangular block marked 'Butter' in the door. "Here," he said,
offering it to her.

"Set it on the counter," Debbie instructed. "Now, how about finding a
small saucepan and lid in that cupboard there." She nodded towards one
of the doors under the counter.

"Now what?" Adam asked, after he'd done as she requested.

Debbie turned a switch at the back of the stove. "Take the butter out
of the wrapper, drop it in the pot, put the lid on, and stick it on
the burner next to this one."

While Adam followed Debbie's instructions, small popping sounds
started coming from the pan she'd been shaking. At first, there was
only one or two noises, then the pops increased until they were all
coming at once.

"What's that?" he asked.

"The popcorn's popping," Debbie answered. "When I was growing up, a
couple times a year, we'd all pile into the Studebaker and head over
to Uncle Lou's and Aunt Edna's. We'd party on the beach, all day, and
Uncle Lou'd build a big ol' bonfire to cook on. We'd have hot dogs and
corn on the cob, and then after dark, we'd roast marshmallows and pop
popcorn."

"Sounds like fun," Adam noted, feeling a surge of envy for the life he
never had.

"It is," Debbie agreed. "You can come with me next time, if you'd
like."

"I can?" Adam repeated. "It is allowed?"

"Sure," she smiled. "You'd even be doing me a favor, since the last
time I was there, everyone kept asking if I had a boyfriend and where
was he. Family can be _so_ annoying."

"I do not have a family," the artificial man pouted.

"Yes, you do!" Debbie insisted. "You have me. And Mama 'Laine, once
she gets done fixing your scars."

"Miss Parker does not like me," Adam said. "She hurt me."

"And odds are, you were doing something you shouldn't have," Debbie
smiled again. "She can be strict at times, and you _don't_ want to
ever lie to her or get her angry at you, but other than that, she's
cool. Just give yourself a little time to get to know her, and you'll
love her as much as the rest of us do. Hang on, I think the popping's
stopped."

Turning off the burner, Debbie removed the lid from the pan and dumped
the contents into a bowl by the stove.

"That is popcorn?" It sure didn't look like any corn Adam had ever
eaten.

"Uh huh," Debbie nodded. "How's the butter?"

Adam took a guess and lifted the lid of the saucepan. "It's liquid!"
he exclaimed.

"Great." Debbie gently shoved Adam out of the way and grabbed the pot
by the handle. "There's wooden spoons in the third drawer over. Get me
one, would you?"

Adam counted drawers and opened the third. Inside were various
instruments, most of which he failed to recognize. But he did know
what a spoon looked like, and he did know what wood was, so he was
able to find what Debbie wanted.

"Here," he said, handing one to her.

"Thank." Debbie took the spoon and used it to wipe off the last of the
butter from where she'd poured it over the popcorn. Then she folded
the butter into the popcorn and presented it to Adam.

Adam hesitated, then took one of the white kernels and put it in his
mouth. "It's crunchy," he noted.

"Good, isn't it? You take this and I'll get the drinks. Don't eat it
all, now. Save some for me." Debbie handed Adam the bowl and went over
to the fridge. Opening it up, she pulled out two bottles filled with a
dark liquid, then popped the lids off using a metal gadget. "This
way."



Adam followed Debbie into a room filled with chairs, pillows, sofas
and tables. They set their loads down, then Debbie led him to yet
another new room. This one looked like a library, only instead of
books, the shelves were full of labeled boxes,

"G ... g ... g...," Debbie muttered to herself, searching through the
shelves. "Here we are. Frankenstein!"



"Look. It's moving. It's alive. It's alive. It's alive. It's moving.
It's alive. It's alive. It's alive. It's alive. IT'S ALIVE!"

Adam's jaw dropped. It wasn't exactly the way he and Eve had been
'born', but it was very close. Even down to someone digging up dead
bodies for parts.

When the movie had first started, Adam hadn't understood how giant
people had suddenly appeared on the far wall. So Debbie had stopped
the film and explained that the people were really pictures, like a
photograph, only a lot of them in a row so the figures looked like
they were moving. She'd even let Adam look at some of the film so he
could see for himself.

It had fascinated Adam, but not half as much as the story did.

As far as Adam could tell, it was _his_ story. He _was_ Doctor
Frankenstein's monster. Even if he didn't have those stupid looking
bolts in his neck.

It wasn't Fritz tormenting the monster, it was Willie with the chicken
leg.

When the monster killed the little girl, it was Sam Evans, Adam's
first friend.

And when the villagers went after the monster with dogs and torches,
it was the Collinsport police, chasing after Adam and gunning him
down.

But Adam had survived, unlike Frankenstein's creation.

When the movie was over, Adam looked at Debbie and found her staring
back at him.

"I've always thought Frankenstein's monster get the short end of the
stick in these movies," she told him. "I'm right, aren't I? Someone
cobbled you together out of old body parts and brought you to life,
just like ol' Boris up on the screen."

Adam couldn't decide whether to be angry at Debbie or relieved that
she had found his secret. "You know?" he asked her. "And you are not
disgusted?"

"It does make sense," Debbie answered. "And it explains a few things.
Like why you insisted on making a girlfriend instead of just meeting
one, the way everyone else does. Your scars. Why your left arm is
longer than your right arm. Things like that. I'd love to see the
notes on you some time."

"Why do you want to know that?" Adam snapped, afraid of her answer.

"Curiosity, I guess," she shrugged. "One thing's for sure. Next time I
have to dissect something in class, it's going to be a hell of a lot
more interesting."

"I do not scare you?" Adam repeated, confused. This was not the
reaction he was used to.

"Not really," Debbie answered. "It's not your fault what happened
before you came here."

"It wasn't?"

"Did you notice how Frankenstein and the rest of them treated ol'
Boris?" she pointed out. "Fritz whipped him and the rest decided he
was a monster even before they saw him. But he wasn't. He was a
newborn baby in a grown-up body. You don't treat children like that."

"You don't?" Hearing Debbie say Adam had been mistreated made the
artificial man feel better. Kind of warm and fuzzy all over.

"No, you don't. You care for children, and guide them, and teach the
about right and wrong, and reward them when they've been good, and
punish them when they've been bad, which does _not_ mean whipping
them. And most of all, you love them."

Debbie was about to say more when a loud crash prevented her. "Oh
hell," she said instead.

"What?" Adam asked.

"Mama 'Laine's home."


Miss Parker coming back was a bad thing.

Adam didn't understand that, since even he was beginning to miss the
petite blonde, but that's what Debbie seemed to be saying.

He was about to ask her to explain, when there was a second, louder
bang. This one was strong enough to make the walls and floor shake.

Something was not right here.

"What is wrong?" he asked Debbie. "Why is Miss Parker angry?"

"Don't know," Debbie answered, shrugging. "No one's ever been brave
enough to ask her. Except Uncle Lou, maybe. But he's never said
anything if he did." The brunette got up and started rewinding the
film. "Best thing I've found is to wait until she comes out, then
pretend it never happened."

That was not a good enough answer for Adam. So while Debbie was busy
with the projector, he slipped out in search of Miss Parker.

It was easy to find the path Miss Parker took. One thing Debbie had
neglected to mention was how _messy_ the blonde was. Chairs and tables
were overturned. Lamps and vases had been thrown and shattered. A door
had even been pulled off its hinges.

The destruction stopped outside Miss Parker's bedroom.

Adam grabbed the knob to open the door and stopped. Given the mood the
blonde seemed to be in, did he really want to risk losing an arm or
leg? Just because he had been pot together in the first place didn't
mean he could stick any misplaced limb back on and expect it to stay.

So Adam knocked instead. "Miss Parker?"

"GO 'WAY!"

If Adam hadn't already known something was wrong, Miss Parker's answer
would have told him. Because in all the lessons and corrections and
everything else she had said to him, Miss Parker had never been less
than totally polite to him. This was almost  ... rude.

Now more curious than ever, Adam grabbed the doorknob and twisted it.
At first, there was resistance, then something snapped and he opened
the door.

The room was dark when Adam entered it, so he felt around for a light
switch and flipped it on.

There still wasn't much light, but what he could see was pink.

Pink bedspread. Pink walls. Pink canopy. Pink side table. All covered
in pink ruffles and pink lace.

And on the bed, one small dark figure.

Adam went over to Miss Parker and shook her, trying to get her
attention.

He got more than he expected.

Miss Parker sat up, turned and _hissed_ at Adam, with eyes that glowed
yellow in the dark.

Then she burst into tears, collapsing against his shoulder.

At first, Adam liked the new development. After all mean things Miss
Parker had done to him, he liked seeing her cry. It made him feel
_good_.

Then something happened. Adam thought about the movie he had just
seen, and how ol' Boris had been treated, and Miss Parker sobbing in
his arms, and it all came together in his head.

He didn't want Miss Parker crying. He didn't want her hurting. He
didn't want _anyone_ hurting, ever again.

"Don't cry," he told her. "Please don't cry. I do not want you to
cry."

It was several more minutes before Miss Parker was able to comply with
his request.

"Ah suppose, aftah all that, yah've ahned the right tah call meh by
mah christian name," she said, drying her eye on an edge of the
bedspread. "Ah nevah did finish explainin' that tah yah, did Ah."

Adam shook his head.

"It's a ma'ah of propietay an' respect," she explained, shifting
around so she was facing more towards him. "See, when Ah was growin'
up, the onlay pahsons who called a boday by hah christian name wah hah
fam'lay an' friends sah close the might as well beh fam'lay. Ev'ry one
else used a title. Even some mahrahed couples Ah knew used Mistah an'
Missus, at least in public. Granted, that was some hundred yeahs oh
sah ago, an' thin's ahn' quite as fahmal as they wah back then, but
mannahs ah still mannahs. Christian names ah onlay tah beh used aftah
a reasonable acquaintance between friends."

"But you always called me Adam," Adam reminded her.

"One needs tah have a las' name befoah someone else can use it," she
pointed out. "Didn' Bahnabas oh anay of them folk bothah tah give yah
one?"

"No."

"Then why don' yah pick one now?" Elaine suggested. "Yah'll need one
fah yah bahth cahtificate anayway."

Adam thought it over and found two names he liked. "Evans," he
decided. "No, Stokes. Evans."

"How 'bout both? Take the S off of Evans an' yah'll have the makin's
of a fine second name," Elaine pointed out. "Sah yah'd beh Adam Evan
Stokes."

"Yes!" Adam liked the name. "I am Adam Evan Stokes!"

"It suits yah." Elaine smiled. "Shall weh go out an' tell Debbay."

It was a good idea, but there was one thing Adam wanted to ask first.

"We are friends now?" he asked Elaine.

"Ah don' go around tellin' folks weh ah when weh'ah not," she
answered.

"Why were you crying?"

Elaine took a deep breath and had to look away before she could meet
Adam's eyes and answer.

"When Ah was twentay-one, Ah fell in love with a man an' was readay
tah spend mah life with him when he was killed in an accident. Ah
retahned home an' event'allay mahrahed, onlay tah discovah that Lucien
was still alive. Mah mahriage dissolved an' Ah soon lef' Reese fah
Lucien," she told him. "An' that's when Ah lahned that fah all that
Lucien had led meh tah believe, he does not love meh. What he loves is
anothah gahl, dead fah some seven hundred yeahs, whom Ah jus' happen
tah look like. Ah gave up mah _son_ fah him, an' he doesn' wan' meh.
The wahs' pah' is, Ah _know_ Ah could take Flah's place in his haht,
if onlay he'd let meh.

"An' even then, Ah could live with the situation, since it's not as
bad as mah mahriage was, onlay Lucien won' let meh go. Jus' when Ah've
se'le comfahtlay in a life, he sends fah meh an' Ah spend the nex'
sev'ral days lis'nin' tah him ran' about whatevah Neeki has done this
time, an' how foolish an' ungrateful mah brothah is. An' the whole
time he's compaahrin' meh tah Flah an' Lahd help meh should Ah fall
shaht. Oh not shaht enough. It gets tah a gahl aftah a while."

Adam took her word for it. "So don't go to him," he suggested.

"That is _not_ an option," Elaine answered. "Neeki tried runnin' away,
back in the twentays. Made it from Pahris all the way tah Las Angeles
before Lucien tracked him down. On the whole, Ah'd rathah have
Lucien's angah aimed at Neeki, not meh. Beahrin' the brunt of it's bad
enough."

Oh. "Then I don't know what you should do," Adam admitted.

Elaine smiled and squeezed Adam's hand. "Adam, le' meh tell yah
somethin' about women. Nine times out of ten, when a gahl poahs hah
haht out tah yah, the _last_ thin' she wants is advice. Most of the
time, all she wants is a shouldah tah cry on an' _maybeh_ someone tah
tell hah it'll beh a'right. Which yah've done. Adm'rablay. Now, do yah
think weh should go out befoah Debbay thinks Ah've ea'en yah?"

"Okay," Adam nodded.

Taking Adam's hand, Elaine led him from her bedroom, out into the
hall, to the film library where Debbie was putting _Frankenstein_
away.

Debbie took one look at the two, and screamed.

"What did you do to him?!" Debbie demanded, glaring at Elaine.

Elaine looked at Adam and smiled. "Nothin', she assured her. "Weh jus'
did a little talkin', that's all."

"Then where'd all that blood come from?"

Blood? Adam looked down at his shirt. Sure enough, one side  was
covered in blood. "That was where Miss -- Elaine cried," he
remembered. "Why is there blood where Elaine cried?"

"You were crying?" Debbie asked Elaine. "Why?"

"Adam, the blood is mah teahs," Elaine explained, ignoring Debbie's
question. "It's paht of what Ah am, alon' with mah age an' mah
strength."

Which didn't tell Adam anything.

"Why don' weh go intah the kitchen," she then suggested. "Lord knows
Ah could use a drink, an' aftah Ah finish answahrin' the questions
Ah'm sure yah must have, yah probablay need one as well."



"Adam, did yah evah wondah exactlay _why_ Elliot Stokes handed yah
ovah tah meh?" Elaine asked, pouring herself a glass of red wine.

"Yes," Adam nodded. "But I do not know why."

"It's because he knew that sometimes the best way tah deal with one
monstah is with anothah monstah."

"You're not a monster," Debbie objected. "And neither is Adam."

"The world thinks Ah am," Elaine answered. "An' Ah dare say if yah
evah met anay of mah brethren, yah'd think they were, as well."

"Maybe," Debbie reluctantly agreed. "But it still doesn't mean Adam is
one."

"You are made out of body parts?" Adam interrupted, trying in vain to
follow the conversation.

"Not ... quite," Elaine told him. "What Ah am is a vampiah. Which
probablay doesn' mean much tah yah."

An old memory floated through Adam's mind. One of his first memories,
from the very beginning of his life.

"Adam will drain Barnabas' affliction from him, but will not suffer
from the disease itself, because he lives," the voice on the tape
said. "But if Adam dies, Barnabas Collins will be as he was before."

But since it didn't have anything to do with Elaine, Adam promptly
forgot it.

"It does not," he admitted. "What is a vampire?"

A good question. Too bad Elaine didn't have an equally good answer.

"Ah've spent the las' seventay tryin' tah figuah jus' that out," she
told him. "Ah have leahned that it's caused by a change in the DNA --
those squigglay thin's in blood Ah tol' yah about -- mos' likelay due
tah a virus. The virus altahs the boday, sah the infectay doesn't age,
and his oh hah physical strength is increased, along with a few othah
things. Howevah, in doin' sah, the metabolism is altahed in such a way
that the pahson can onlay survive by consumin' blood. Theah's a few
othah side effects, but weh don' need tah go intah those."

Which told Adam nothing. Well, not much, anyway. That consumin' blood
bit made his stomach turn over. "But why are you a monster?"

"Because mankind has a history of deciding anything they don't
understand is evil," Debbie answered, trying to be helpful. "Just like
they did with leprosy and the Black Death."

"Leprosay an' the Black Death nevah caused no one tah kill anothah
person," Elaine reminded her. "Which is the real reason weh'ah
considahed monstahs. The easayes' way tah get the blood weh need in
ordah tah live js by drinkin' it straight from someboday's throat.
Most people don' survive havin' that done tah them, fah some reason."

"But that is murder!" Adam protested.

"Depends on how yah see it," Elaine shrugged. "Personallay, Ah don'
regahd it as murdah anay moah then a cougah bringin' down a deah. The
crime is in lettin' a life go tah waste. Not endin' it with reason."

Which didn't make Adam feel any better. If she killed people as easily
as it sounded it did, what was to stop her from killing _him_?

"Adam, if it's any help, Mama 'Laine raised my grandfather and mother,
and we've all known what she is," Debbie told him. "She doesn't kill
people she's looking after."

"You do not care that she is a vampire?" Adam asked.

"It was a little scary, at first, when I was told," she admitted. "But
after a while it didn't matter anymore. I mean, she's always slept
during the day and never at with us, only now I knew why. And it's not
like she ever brought anyone home to kill, she's always been good
about that. And compared to what was going on at some of my friend's
house, I'd rather have Mama 'Laine any day."

Her answer seemed to placate Adam. Until he came up with another
question.

"Professor Stokes, he knows you are a vampire?"

"A'course," Elaine nodded.

"When did you meet?"

"World Wah Two. Ellayot was stationed neah a club Ah used tah
frequent. Weh danced sev'ral times, an' Ah even invited him up tah mah
apahtment once." Elaine paused and leveled eyes with Adam. "An' befoah
yah ask, Ah _nevah_ touched him.. Weh talked, that's all."

Something in the way Elaine had said that told Adam to just accept her
word for it. So he asked another question. "Did he know?"

"Not then, no. It wasn' until quite some time latah that he found
out."

Adam said nothing, waiting for her to continue.

"_That_ is none of yah bus'ness," she said instead. "Suffice it tah
say that he does now."

Not the answer he had hoped for, but again, something told Adam not to
question it.

"Awww, come on," Debbie pouted. "Can't you even give us just a little
hint?"

Elaine turned her eyes on the brunette. "Ah said, it was _none_ _of_
_yah_ _damn_ _bus'ness_. Ah would hate tah have tah yah mothah yah've
been pryin'."

Debbie blushed and looked away. "Yes, Mama 'Laine. Sorry."

"Promise yah'll try not tah do it again?"

"Promise."

"Then come give mah a hug."

Elaine held her arms out and smiled. Debbie got up, embraced the older
woman, and returned to her seat.

"Now, if yah both will excuse meh, Ah'm headed back tah bed. Ah'll
sleep in the othah guest room, sah yah 'n' Adam cn fix the doah tah
mine," Elaine told Debbie.

"Right, Mama 'Laine," Debbie nodded. "Mornin'."

"Mahnin'." Elaine finished her glass, washed it out and set it upside
down on the counter. Then she went over to Debbie, gave her a kiss on
the cheek, and turned to Adam.

"Friends embrace each othah when pahtin' fah the night," she told him.
"Oh fah the day."

Adam wasn't sure he really wanted to get that close to someone who'd
just admitted to killing people and drinking their blood. Or someone
who'd just been drinking blood, which he suddenly realized _must_ have
been in the glass Elaine'd been sipping from.

But he did it anyway.

She didn't smell like blood. Not even her breath. Just her usual rose
perfume.

"Adam, yah too tense.. Relax up a bit," Elaine grunted. "Ah don' bite
friends. Ain' nevah have, an' ain' nevah will."

Again, Adam found himself doing as she requested. Which made him
wonder if she was some how doing something to him, like she had other
times. Maybe she could even read his thoughts!

If she could, she didn't say anything. "Much bettah. Mahnin'."

"Morning," Adam repeated, as Elaine released him and left the room.

Which left Adam and Debbie alone together.



Adam looked at Debbie, waiting for her to say something.

Debbie returned Adam's gaze.

After several minutes of silence, she spoke.

"So. A lot to take in, isn't it?"

"Yes," Adam nodded.

"And now you're wondering whether or not you can trust Mama 'Laine,
and if you do, how do you know she didn't make you think that. Right?"

Again, Adam nodded.

"Everybody does, at first. But she can't do that," Debbie told him.
"Whammies only works if it's something the person already wants. Like
when she helps me study, or when she told you not to hurt me. If you
had _really_ wanted to kill me, you could've, but since you didn't,
you couldn't."

She paused and smiled. "Of course, there's some people who'd say I'd
been programmed to say that and wouldn't believe anything I said at
all. But they're the ones who think Mama 'Laine's a demon from hell
and should be destroyed no matter how many people get killed in the
process."

Adam didn't know if he believed her or not. But he could tell she did,
and he didn't think Elaine was a demon, so he let it go. "But she
kills people," he reminded her.

"But only some people," Debbie objected. "Tell me something, back when
you were in Collinsport, if someone had hurt your Carolyn, what would
you have done?"

"Hurt them back," Adam answered without thinking.

"And if someone had killed her?"

Adam opened his mouth and closed it. His first instinct had been to
say 'kill them,' but he didn't want to admit that to Debbie.

Besides, he had a feeling she already knew what his answer was.

"That's what Mama 'Laine does, too," she said. "She doesn't kill very
often, but when she does, she tries to find someone who likes hurting
other people. Like that burglar I told you about. According to Mama
'Laine, he'd been responsible for several other break-ins, and a
couple of murder, even, and the police were nowhere near to catching
him."

"So it was a good thing," Adam concluded, trying to sort it all out in
his head.

"Well ... no. Not exactly," Debbie answered, standing up "I mean, she
did kill him, which was wrong. But odds are, he would've kill her if
she hadn't, or tried to, anyway, so it was self-defense. And between
Mama 'Laine and some creep that preys on women, I'd rather have Mama
'Laine survive. C'mon, you can keep me company while I check the
door."

Adam followed Debbie down the hall, lost in thought. It was very
confusing. The books that Carolyn and Professor Stokes had given him
mostly said  that killing was a Bad Thing. But other books had said
that killing was sometimes acceptable, and a few had gone on to list
major battles and the number of people who'd died in them like it was
a Good Thing! And the way Debbie had explained it, it was okay for
Elaine to have killed that burglar, but not the other way around. Why?

"Penny for your thoughts?"

"What?" Adam started at the sound of Debbie's voice.

"Penny for your thoughts," she repeated. "What'cha thinkin' about?"

"Killing," he answered. "Why is it okay to kill sometimes and not
others?"

Debbie took a deep breath and let it out. "That's the sixty-four
thousand dollar question, isn't it? People've been trying to figure
that one out since the Bible began. Not sure there really is an
answer, except for individual ones."

That was not the answer Adam wanted to hear. "What do you think?"

"That it's permissible as long as you're protecting your own or its a
matter of survival. And during war, of course. Then it's your duty to
go and fight, whether you agree with it or not," she said. "But not if
you just don't like someone or want something they have."

Reaching the door to Elaine's bedroom, Debbie felt along the frame.
"No damage here. Which is good, because when Mama 'Laine breaks a
door, we usually have to replace the whole thing."

"She breaks doors down?" Adam asked, curious. Not that Elaine wasn't
strong enough. It just didn't seem like her.

"Usually she rips it off the hinges," Debbie answered, squatting down
to look at the lock. "Most of the time, it's because she'd been
partying all night long and was trying to get home before the sun came
up. A-ha!" She turned the knob. "Looks like you broke the locking
mechanism. should be a piece of cake to fix. Help me up."

Debbie held out to Adam and stood up.

"You will fix now?" he asked.

"Nope. Don't have a replacement, so I'll have to go to the store and
buy one. I'm off to bed." Giving Adam a quick kiss on the bed, Debbie
went to her own bedroom and closed the door behind her.

After a few minutes, Adam did the same. Maybe if he was lucky, he
could talk Debbie into taking him with her in the morning.


"You want me to what?" Debbie asked, dropping a batter-soaked piece of
bread onto the skillet.

"Take me with you," Adam repeated. "I am bored here."

"But ... your face still hasn't been done."

"I don't care." Adam slammed his fist down on the table. "I want to go
outside."

Debbie looked at Adam, carefully scrutinizing his face. "You realize
there's going to be a _lot_ more people than you've ever been around
before. Toronto's a full-fledged city, not a sleepy little town like
Collinsport."

"I know," Adam nodded, even though he had only the vaguest idea what
the difference was.

"And we'll have to drive, since it's too far to walk," she continued.
"You ever been in a car before?"

"No," he admitted. "But I will learn." Truth was, Adam had read about
cars, and he was intrigued by the magic they possessed. So learning
he'd actually _be_ in one made him all the more determined to go.

"I still don't know...," Debbie hesitated. "Oh, what the heck, you'll
have to go out sooner or later, might as well be today. Can you be
ready by the time I get done with the breakfast dishes?"

Yes! "What do I need to do?"

"Oh, brush your teeth. Wash your face. Comb your hair," she answered.
"What your wearing's fine. It's not like we're going to church or
anything, just down to the store."

Adam nodded. He could do that.


Half an hour later, Adam had done as Debbie suggested and was now
following her down the stairs to the garage. It was all he could do to
keep from pushing her out of the way, he was so excited!

He was going to ride in a car! Cars were important. You could get in
them, and drive, and end up miles from where you started. They were
status-symbols. They got you girls.

Not that Adam really understood what a status-symbol was, or why
getting a girl with a car was different from getting a girl any other
way, but he figured he'd find out eventually.

Besides, status-symbols and getting girls could wait until he had his
_own_ car. Right now, he was content to let Debbie drive.

"Ready?" Debbie asked, as they reached the bottom of the stairs. 

Adam nodded, barely able to contain his eagerness.

Smiling, Debbie opened the door.

The first thing Adam noticed was an odd, sweet smell. Then he got a
look at the car.

"What is that?" he asked. Whatever it was, it sure didn't look like
any car he'd seen pictures of. Or that had been in the Collins'
garage.

For one thing, it looked like a giant bubble, with smaller bubbles for
wheels. Not a long, sleek box.

And it was bright orange. With black spots.

"That's Lady," Debbie pouted. "Don't you like her?"

Uh-oh. "I think she is very pretty," Adam lied. "Why is she orange?"

Debbie grinned mischievously. "Blue pills," she explained
mysteriously. "At least, I think they were blue. Might've been purple.
Doesn't matter, really Go around and I'll let you in."

Adam walked around the back of the car, examining it as it went. It
still looked funny, but he was able to put a few names to parts. The
bumper. Headlights and wheels. The trunk. Rear window. Back door. And
the front passenger door.

From the inside, Debbie pushed Adam's door open. "Sit down and close
the door behind you. And don't forget to belt up."

Sit down. Easier said than done. Adam looked at the small opening and
wondered how he would ever fit.

The first attempt failed. Adam put his foot inside and bent down. And
promptly bumped his head. A second attempt met with the same result.

"Turn around and back into it," Debbie suggested, trying to keep from
smiling. "Lead with your butt."

It worked, and a few minutes later, Adam was ready to go.

Almost.

"Seat belt," Debbie reminded him, tugging on the strap across her
chest and pointing above Adam's right shoulder.

Adam followed where she was pointing and found a metal buckle. He
tugged on it, and found it was attached to a strap just like Debbie's.
So he looked down to where her strap ended and found another piece of
metal.

Taking a wild guess, Adam slid the buckle into the slot of the second
metal piece, and was rewarded with a soft *click*.

"Now we can go?" he asked Debbie.

"Juuust about." Reaching up, she fiddled with another metal box, this
one attached to a flap on the front window.

A loud, grating noise suddenly was heard above and outside the car.

"WHAT IS THAT?" Adam asked, resisting the urge to cover his ears with
his hands.

"Garage door opener." At least, that's what Adam thought she said,
since it was hard to make her words out clearly. "Look behind you."

Adam did, and found the wall had disappeared.

The noise also disappeared, leaving only silence in Adam's ears.

Not for long, though. Debbie slid the key into a slot next to the
steering wheel and turned it.

          "Big wheel keep on turnin', Prooouuud Mary keep on burnin'."

The engine roared to life. Debbie backed Lady out of the garage and
they were off!


Adam's stomach lurched as the car suddenly veered left and
straightened again.

*Beeeeep!*

"Learn how to drive, grandpa!" Debbie shouted out the window.

This was not what Adam had expected from his first car ride. 

This was not the Debbie he knew, either. Somehow, his sweet, young
friend had turned into a, well, _madwoman_ was the only word Adam
could think of that fit.

Speeding. Darting in and out between other cars. One time, Debbie had
even slid over into the far left lane, where cars were coming at them.
That was when Adam had decided to close his eyes and not look.

Too bad closed eyes couldn't keep the sounds out as well.

Or the motions. By now, Adam was feeling quite, _quite_ nauseous.

"Debbie, I--" Adam closed his mouth before more than words could come
out.

As soon as they stopped at the next light, Debbie looked over at him.
"Ew, you don't look so good," she noticed. "Feel like you're going to
get sick?"

Adam nodded.

"Well, we're almost there." She patted his knee reassuringly. "Think
you can hold out until then?"

Adam shook his head. And immediately wished he hadn't.

"In that case, open the window and breathe the fresh air. And whatever
you do, don't get sick in the car. Last time that happened, nothing I
tried got the smell out and I ended up having to replace the car.
That's when I got the Ladybug."

The light changed and they were off again. This time, however, the
trip wasn't as bad, since Adam did as Debbie had suggested, and Debbie
drove more carefully, and it wasn't long before Debbie squeezed the
Ladybug between two cars along the side of the road. 

The realization of what he was about to do suddenly hit Adam. For the
first time, _ever_, in broad daylight, he was about to go out among
other people. A _lot_ of other people. 

And there was nowhere to hide.



Debbie set the car into park and took the key out of the ignition.
"There's something we need to discuss before we get out," she
announced. "You know all that stuff you learned about Mama 'Laine last
night? About her being a vampire and all?"

Adam nodded. 

"You can't mention that. To anyone."

Not that he'd intended to. That information was still working it's way
through his head. "Why not?"

"Because there're people who'll kill her if they find out what she
is," she explained. "And then they'll kill us, just because we live
with her."

"But...." That didn't make any sense to Adam. "They do not know us."

"That's never stopped anyone before." Debbie paused and took a breath.
"So, you ready to go?"

"I guess." 

Debbie looked at him and smiled. "Don't worry, you'll do just fine.
Tell ya what, I'll get out first, come around and let you out. Okay?"

Seeing how there was no way of avoiding it, Adam nodded. "Okay."

Laughing, Debbie got out and soon Adam was stepping into the open air.

No one screamed.

No one fainted.

No one ran away in terror.

It was ...

Wonderful.

Something tugged at Adam's pant leg. Looking down, he found a small
face staring up at him.

"R u a solja?"

Solja? Oh, soldier. Adam knew what soldiers were. He'd seen their
pictures in book. But soldiers always wore uniforms, so he didn't know
why the little boy thought he was one.

"I'm sorry, is she bothering you?" A woman came up and took Adam's
accoster by the hand. "Her uncle just got discharged last month, and
is staying with us, so she thinks anyone with a scar also was in the
army."

The woman looked at Adam again, licked her lips and ran her fingers
through her hair. "Of course, if you _are_ in the army, well, we won't
hold that against you. I'm Bridgett, and this is Sandy."

"My name is Adam Evan Stokes," Adam told her.

"And I'm Debbie." The brunette wrapped her arm around Adam's waist.
"Sandy, Adam was in a really bad car crash a couple years ago. So bad
that the doctors had to give him a face transplant. But they did a
really bad job, and that's why Adam has all those nasty scars. Okay?"

"Okay." Sandy looked at Adam, then back to Bridget. "Go'a go tinkle!"

"In a minute." Bridget pulled out a notebook and a pen and scribbled
on one of the pages. "It was nice meeting you. Here." Ripping out the
page, she gave it to Adam. "Give me a call sometime when you're free
and we can get together for a drink."

"NOW!"

"Alright already." 

Sandy ran off, towing Bridget behind her.



"Bitch."

Debbie grabbed the piece of paper out of Adam's hand, tore it to 
shreds and dropped them in the gutter.

"Why did you do that?" Adam asked.

"Didn't you notice the way she was coming on to you?" Debbie asked 
in return. "And in front of me and Sandy, too. It's very rude. Besides," 
she turned to face Adam and put her arms around his neck, "I want to 
keep you all to myself for a while longer." She planted a kiss on his 
nose.

This was very confusing to Adam. As far as he could tell, Debbie just 
did what she had accused Bridget of. More even. So why was it okay for 
one but not the other? He would have Mama 'Laine about it later. In 
the meantime, he did the only thing he could think of.

He kissed Debbie back.

Only somehow it ended up on her lips instead of her nose.

"Not in public," Debbie teased, lightly slapping Adam's arm. "C'mon, 
people are beginning to stare."

Now even more confused, Adam let her take him by the hand and lead 
him off.



With his mind otherwise occupied, Adam wasn't paying attention to 
where Debbie was taking him. So he was very surprised when a door 
suddenly opened in front of him.

"Who did that?" Adam snapped, looking around but finding no one.

"We did," Debbie answered, suppressing a grin. "Here, I'll show you."

Debbie pulled Adam over to one side. The door immediately closed.

"Now step on the mat in front of the door," she told him.

Adam did and the door swung open again.

"It's ... magic," he gasped, stepping off and on again. And again.

"Nah. Just a bit of fancy electronics," Debbie assured him. "The 
door's connected to the mat so that whenever someone steps on the 
mat, the door opens. Nothing magical about it."

Whatever. It still seemed like magic to Adam.

The two stepped on the mat again and went inside.

Whatever Adam's thoughts on the magical door had been paled compared 
to the inside of his first store.

It was ...awesome. There was just so much ... stuff. Rows upon rows, 
from the floor to the ceiling, as far as Adam could see.

"Close your mouth, you're letting flies in," Debbie teased.

Adam checked his jaw. "But my mouth is not open," he protested.

Debbie opened her mouth, closed it, touched her fingers to her temple 
in a frown, then waved her hand as if dispelling a notion. "Never mind. 
It's just an expression. It means, stop staring at everything like 
you've never been in a store before."

"But I have never been in a store before," he reminded her.

"But you don't have to act like it," she countered. "Just ... follow 
me and do what I do. And don't touch anything."


Debbie pulled Adam through the store too fast for him to really see 
anything. He'd catch a glimpse of something, but before he could focus 
on it, they were already past it.

Finally, they stopped.

"Here we are, Housewares," Debbie announced. "Uh oh.

"Uh oh?" Adam repeated.

"Yeah, uh oh. I don't see the doorknob we need."

"This is bad?"

"Not if you don't mind changing _every_ single doorknob in the building. 
And maybe every door, if they don't go with the new knobs," Debbie 
answered. "Mama 'Laine's kinda picky about that. Everything's gotta match."

Oh. "Why?"

"Beats me," she shrugged. "She's always been like that, long as anyone 
can remember."

Not a very informative answer. But before Adam could ask anything else, 
a man in a red vest and name tag walked up to them.

"May I be of service," he asked, looking at Adam.

"We are looking for doorknobs," Adam answered. "But it is not here."

"Any doorknob or one in particular?"

"We're trying to find one like this," Debbie said, pulling the broken 
one out of her purse.

Without looking at her, the clerk grabbed the knob and examined it. 
"You're right, we don't carry this one," he told Adam. "This one's 
close." He pulled a package off the rack and gave it to Adam.

Adam looked at Debbie, who shook her head. "No, we want this one," he 
told him, handing it back.

The clerk look at Debbie with a sneer, then stepped between her and 
Adam, cutting her out. "Look, we're both men of the world. We know 
what chicks are like," he told Adam. "Leave now. Then when the little 
woman's busy fixing dinner, come back and get this one. Believe me, 
she'll never know the difference."

For a moment, Adam thought about the man's suggestion. Then he 
realized that not only did he remind him of Nicholas Blair, and not 
in a good way, but that if he did as the man said, he most likely 
would upset Debbie. "No. We want this one," she insisted.

"Adam, honey, I just remembered, the farmer's market's open today," 
Debbie interrupted with a giggle. "If we hurry, we can get there 
before all the good stuff's gone."

Grabbing Adam's hand, she practically dragged him out of the store. 
As soon as they were outside, her manner changed.

"Of all the chauvinistic, sexist, pig-headed, condescending, _arrogant_," 
she said, starting under her breath and getting louder with each word. 
"The man ought to be horsewhipped. Or better yet, stick him in a bra 
and burn it!"

"You do not like him?" Adam asked.

"Gee, whatever gave you that idea?" Debbie snapped. Before Adam could 
answer, she continued. "Adam, that man in there was a good example of 
how _not_ to treat a woman. If any of my brothers had ever acted like 
that, Dad would've boxed them in the ears."

Adam filed the information in the usual place. Treat women like that = 
box in the ears. There was just one thing.

"What did he do?"

"What did he do?!?! You _know_ WHAT -- Oh, you probably don't," Debbie
realized, calming down. "Want me to go over it step by step?:

"Yes, please," Adam nodded.

"All right." Debbie took a deep breath. "The first thing was, did you 
notice how he didn't look at me when I handed him the knob? That's 
just plain rude, no matter what sex you are. And then he stepped in 
front of me to talk to you. That's even ruder. But the worse part, 
was the way he talked about me."

She paused, unsure of how to explain the next part. 

"It was his attitude," she finally said. "Calling me the 'little 
woman,' cutting me off when he talked to you, telling you I'd never 
know the difference in the doorknobs, men who say things like that 
usually think the only thing women are good for is staying home and 
having babies. Not going to school, or getting a job, or even 
thinking for themselves. You don't think that about me, do you?"

"No, I don't," he answered, still unsure how everything related. 
But he was getting used to that by now. He headed towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Debbie asked, suddenly alarmed.

"To box his ears." Before she could stop him, Adam went inside.



To Be Continued....





AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Darwin, Charles. _On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural
Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for
Life._, 1859. 

Frankenstein. Produced by Laemmle, Carl Jr. Directed by Whale, James.
Based on the novel by Shelly, Mary Wollstonecraft. Starring Karloff,
Boris and Clive, Colin. Universal Studios, 1931.

Proud Mary, written by John Fogerty, 1969.

Last updated May 1, 2002.