A Chosen Destiny (The Samantha Project Series #3) by Stephanie Karpinske Page A

controlled my life.”
    “You can’t believe anything that woman said, Sam. Besides, you know Allie would never let her mom tell her who to be friends with. I mean, come on. When has she ever listened to her mother? She never even sees her mom.”
    “Her mom was pretty convincing when she said it. And it never made sense for Allie to be friends with me. We’re so different.”
    “That doesn’t mean you can’t be friends. Look at all my friends from football. Sports are about the only thing we have in common. But I still like hanging out with them.”
    “In my dream Allie was so sad. She wanted to go back to Minnesota. And she said how much she missed us. She wanted us to find her.”
    “Could your dream be one of those premonitions you have?”
    “I guess it could. When I was at GlobalLife her mom told me how she couldn’t wait to move away from Minnesota. She said they were only there because of me. So maybe she did move to New York.” Just then, I remembered the dream I’d had about Brittany. “But if it was a premonition, then that means—”
    Dave walked in, carrying his coffee. “Sam, you’re up. They took the IV off hours ago, so the drugs should be almost out of your system. You certainly look more alert.”
    “I feel wide awake. I think I’ll get up.”
    Dave came over to the bed. “No. You need a final okay from the doctor. He’ll be in soon.”
    I sat back, feeling anxious. “Uncle Dave, I was just telling Colin about these dreams I had while I was out.”
    “You probably had a lot of strange dreams with those drugs they pumped in you. It’s a side effect.”
    “Colin and I think they were premonitions.”
    “I guess that’s possible. With the gene fragment filled in, you might get more of those now.”
    “Then we need to do something. Because I had this dream about Brittany. She was calling for me. Begging for help. But I couldn’t find her. She was outside, but it was too foggy to see her.”
    “That doesn’t sound like a premonition,” Dave said. “Why would Brittany be wandering around outside? She’s locked up at GlobalLife. You know that, Sam.”
    “Yeah, but it seemed so real. I’m worried about her, Uncle Dave. We can’t keep waiting. We have to get her out of there. If Owens doesn’t do something fast, I’m just going to get her myself.”
    “No, you’re not. You’ll end up right back at GlobalLife and they’ll make sure you never get out. Just be patient. Owens has finalized a plan to get Brittany. Everything’s already set up. We just need to wait.”
    “When is this happening?”
    “Later this week. On Wednesday.”
    I knew I couldn’t get her out any faster, but I didn’t want Brittany at GlobalLife for another second. I tried not to imagine how they were treating her because I knew it wasn’t good.
    The doctor arrived and gave me the okay to leave. Dave walked me back to my room, then returned to the lab. Colin went to get me some lunch.  
    “You’re finally out of there?” Erik was standing at the door to my room, looking healthy as ever. “It took you long enough. How do you feel?”
    “Good. How about you?”
    “Never felt better.” He came in and sat next to me on the bed. “I don’t hear that damn thing ticking in my head anymore.”
    “Why did you have to go and get the procedure done first, Erik? I told you to wait. We were supposed to get it done together. At the same time.”
    He shrugged. “I changed my mind. Besides, I helped you out. You almost died in there.” He said it as if it was no big deal.  
    “That’s what I hear. Sounds like Dave did some of his code-writing magic. On you, too.”
    “Yeah. I think it made my dad a little jealous. He’s grateful to Dave. He just wishes he could have fixed me himself.”
    “So do you feel any different? Do you notice anything now that the gene fragment is complete?”
    “I feel stronger than before. And when I was in the kitchen earlier, I could hear people in that computer room