Clair tried her best to get some rest that night but the screams of Boran echoed in her mind, those blood-curdling screams, similar to the screams from her mother all those years ago when she was only ten years old...

26 years ago

Clair waved goodbye to the bus driver and skipped up to her house, she knew her dad would be in his office and her mom would be out on business, but she still wondered what her mother did. She asked her dad once but all he would respond with was "Don't talk about that whore" She wondered if whore is a job.

"Daddy, I'm home!" She yells but surprisingly her mom is the one who responds,

"Up here dear!" Her mom yells and Clair runs up the stairs and hugs her. Her mom smiles and looks at her, she seems so tired and her hair is messy.

"Mommy, what's wrong?" Clair asks looking up at her

"Nothing dear, Clair, go pack a bag sweetie." She says hurriedly checking her watch

"Are we going on a vacation?" Clair's eyes light up and her mom smiles and nods

"Yep, sweetie so go pack your bag before your father gets home." She grabs Clair's hand gently and leads her to her room.

"Is Daddy not coming?" Clair looks up at her mom who simply shakes her head, Clair waits for a minute and asks another question,

"Mommy, what's a whore?" She asks innocently, her mom's eyes flash with despair and she clears her throat,

"Get packed sweetie" She sounds like she's on the verge of tears so Clair doesn't press the issue. Instead, her mom watches as she packs her bag grabbing some of her favorite stuffed animals and clothes. Her mom checks her watch and helps pack her bags, as Clair packs she hears the voice of her father,

"What the hell are you two doing?" he asks sharply whiskey bottle in his hand

"Daddy we're going to-" Clair is interrupted by her father

"Stay out of this Clair" he narrows his eyes at her and she steps back

"Jacob, we're just stepping out for-" Her mom starts but is cut off as he approaches her

"Shut up whore, you stink of the strip. How many men tonight?" He takes a drink and steps closer.

Clair sees her mom grip something behind her back, a kitchen knife and as her dad raises his hand she pulls the knife out and swings. Her father drops the bottle and grabs the knife, throwing it to the ground, the knife slides right to Clair's feet and she looks down before hearing a loud smack.

Clair looks up and sees her father repeatedly slapping her mom,

"What the hell are you trying to do!" he keeps hitting her and she falls to the ground, Clair covers her ears hearing the screams and kicks until she can't take it anymore. She screams and picks up the knife running full speed and hearing a squelch and feeling a warm liquid fall down her arms, she opens her eyes and sees the knife sticking out of her father, blood dripping down her hands. She backs up and stammers, her mom screams in sheer horror, her father drops to the floor and her mom backs away from Clair.

"Demon...you...you're a demon.." She gets up and runs out of the house, Clair cries and falls to the ground holding her face, the blood pooling around her.

Ever since that day, the local sheriff took her in, and they found her mother three weeks later, dead from an overdose. Clair didn't find out until she was an adult, even though she knows in her heart she did the right thing, she was still responsible for the death of her parents.

26 years later(Present day)

Clair relives that moment in her head as she's lying in the bed looking up at the white concrete ceiling, is this divine retribution? Because she killed her parents, is this her cross to bear? She shakes the thought out of her head, it's ridiculous to think something like that is passing judgment, she's a scientist she believes in cold, hard facts. Although, what's happening now...can science even explain it. She slowly goes through the events they've experienced and realizes something, that purple crystal the first one they found, that was definitely Dr. Lillian's voice, which means the people who lived in "Atlantis" are human but humans that come from this reality.

Clair's eyes widen as she connects the dots. If these are the same people then why'd they come through the rift, unless they released something into our reality to research it? If Dr. Lillian can create something like Deacon then it's entirely possible the Stranger is...

The doors swing open and she sees Charlie walk in, Charlie tries to give her a smile but it's forced and she gives up and frowns,

"I...I don't agree with this...Dr. Lillian said she won't let me see Kit, and this is inhumane." Charlie looks over at Clair and pulls up a chair next to her before continuing.

"When I was ten years old I saw my sister Kathrine get run over by a car, they said he was drunk and not paying attention but I've always blamed myself. If I didn't try to save that stupid cat she'd still be-" Clair cuts Charlie off

"Ten?" Clair asks and Charlie looks at her and nods

"Yeah, ten. Why?" she asks and Clair sits up as much as her restraints will let her

"This is strange but, when I was ten I had a similar traumatic event, come to think of it I think Boran and Kit were both ten when their traumatic event happened to them," Clair explains and Charlie's eyes widen

"Brock too actually!" Charlie starts to lean into Clair's theory

"What about Lillian?" Clair asks and Charlie taps her chin

"Well I don't know much about her past but I know her daughter, Clair died when she was 10 years old." Charlie covers her mouth after saying that. "Shit"

"Wait like me? Clair as in me?" Clair says stunned

"Please don't tell her I told you, listen Clair this place...If you step out of line, you...Well, you met Deacon right?" Charlie seems terrified right now

"Yeah, he was a hero. Saved our lives." Clair says solemnly

"He was human once," Charlie says and Clair's eyes widen and she feels nauseous deep down

Charlie nods and continues,

"A guard just like me, he talked about escaping the facility so...So Lillian changed him...rewired his mind...he was a damn hero...he was a saint." Charlie starts to cry and then wipes her tears away shaking her head.

"Clair, she messes with people's minds, I told Brock to tell Kit this too but...If she starts to experiment on you...don't forget your trauma it keeps you grounded." Charlie turns to the door and stands up

"I have to go but please listen to my advice." As she leaves Clair speaks up.

"Wait, what about Boran? He's being experimented on right now" Clair says shakenly

Charlie hesitates but decides to say it as she's leaving,

"Then he's already dead" Charlie closes the door, a sound echoing throughout the whole room, a grim toll bell filling her with a horrible feeling as Charlie's words replay in her mind.

Then he's already dead.
But then a worse thought enters her mind: what if he isn't dead?

What if he's like Deacon?