Flawless, a Claire Fontaine novella

by Tanpepper, Saul

  “He’s not dead. He’s at the movies.”

  Heather’s eyes widened, but not with surprise. She looked frightened.

  “How does the medicine work?” Claire demanded.

  “I—I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “The medicine, bitch! How does it work! Tell me before I do something you’ll regret.”

  Heather started to sob. “It does just exactly what you think it does. It makes you beautiful.”

  Claire gawped.

  “That’s how it was with Dennis,” Heather whispered.

  “You said he was allergic to it.”

  “He wasn’t. Not at first.”

  And then Claire remembered. She remembered how when Heather and Dennis had first started seeing each other, how he had been a plain-looking kid, which was so typical of Heather and her unambitious choices for boyfriends. But then, over the summer, Dennis had become almost beautiful.

  Heather nodded, as if reading Claire’s mind. “I don’t know when he started using it. At first, I almost didn’t even notice he was changing. I didn’t notice until you starting…” She stopped and her hands flew to her face.

  “Until I started getting interested in him,” Claire finished.

  Heather nodded. “I don’t know when he was infected. I don’t think he even knew for sure. But the medicine kept his skin from breaking down, masked what was happening to him. He never told me; I only found out afterward.”

  “You knew!” Claire charged. “You had to know!”

  Heather gasped and shook her head.

  “You found out about me and Dennis and you thought you’d punish us both! You found out about our little fling!”

  Heather’s eyes grew wide and she shook her head even more violently. “No! No, Claire, I swear it. I mean, I knew about you two, but I didn’t care. Dennis always liked you, that’s why he started dating me, to get close to you. I didn’t care. But then I found out how sick he was and I just wanted to take care of him. I just wanted to make him feel better.” She was sobbing now. “Just like I want you to be better. I tried, but the medicine stopped working for him, and…”

  “What?”

  “He died.”

  Claire frowned annoyance at Heather’s melodramatics. Dying was so overrated, so…passé. It was like, been there, done that.

  “Then who is Trevor?” she snarled.

  Heather shook her head. “I don’t know. Just some random guy. He had nothing to do with all this. Dennis is dead. You have to believe me.”

  “Then who infected me? If not you, who? And even more importantly, why would they infect Dennis?”

  Heather gasped. “So you believe me? You believe it wasn’t an accident?”

  “Yes. And now you need to tell me why.”

  “It wasn’t me,” Heather insisted.

  “Why not?” Claire screamed. “I took Dennis away from you! He left you! Why wouldn’t you want to hurt him? Why would you want to help us?”

  “I would never do anything mean like that, Claire. You’ve always been my best friend. I would never betray you.”

  It felt like a slap across her face. A hard slap. And Claire almost wished Heather really had done it, because she deserved it.

  “I need more of that medicine. Where can I get it?”

  Heather raised her tear-streaked face. “Dennis told me he got it from April’s mom.”

  April?

  And that’s when it all finally clicked into place.

  April and Simone, The Five’s newest members, new to the school two years ago. She’d never thought to wonder where they’d come from. Where Dee had come from.

  “There’s one other thing,” Heather said.

  “What’s that?”

  “Right before Dennis died, he…”

  “What, Heather?” she said impatiently.

  “He started having these weird cravings, he started getting hungry all the time.”

  Claire shook her head. “I don’t think I’ll be having any cravings.”

  But the look Heather was giving Claire, it was obvious she didn’t believe it at all. She looked terrified.

  ‡ ‡ ‡

  “Deirdre!” Claire picked up a handful of gravel and tossed it at the window “Dee! I know you’re in there. Let’s talk.”

  The window opened. Dee stuck her head out and stared down at the girl who, a year ago, had committed to being her best best friend.

  “So, you figured it out, did you?” Dee said. “I’m surprised, pretty little brainless thing like you. And so quickly, too.”

  Claire smiled into the darkness. Let Dee say what she wanted to. Let her insult, she didn’t care. “Let’s talk.”

  “Oh, so now you want to talk?”

  “How’d you do it?”

  Silence. Then: “First, I have a few questions of my own.” Deirdre could barely keep the fury from her voice. “Tell me who gave you the medicine? Was it Heather? I knew that stupid bitch was going to screw things up. Just because it almost worked for Dennis—”

  “Don’t you dare talk about Heather like that! She’s not stupid.”

  “Really? I thought you didn’t care about her? You always used to totally mock her, remember? You always said she was like a chocolate Easter bunny: a nice tasty shell, but empty inside.”

  “I was wrong to say those things.”

  Laughter floated out of the window. “Too late now. But that’s what makes you and that new guy Trevor so perfect for each other. He’s just as shallow as you are. Yes, it’s so obvious what kind of boy he is.”

  “Who is he, Dee? Tell me truthfully.”

  “How should I know? Just some good-looking guy with his brain in his pants. Sorry if that doesn’t narrow things down for you. Ha, you two so deserve each other. But, oh! What’s he going to think about you when you run out of medicine? Well, maybe you won’t have to worry about that. I figure you’ve got—what?—two weeks? You’ll be lucky to hold out long enough for the senior dance. Though you may not want to be seen in public by then.”

  “How’d you do it, Dee? Or should I call you Theresa? How did you figure out how to make yourselves beautiful?”

  “That was the easy part,” Theresa/Deirdre said, scornfully. “But see, you weren’t supposed to know about that. You weren’t supposed to get any of that experimental stuff, our special creams and pills.”

  “You gave it to Dennis.”

  “Yes, well, he found out what we were doing and wanted a piece of that action. Boys are so vain, aren’t they? How were we supposed to know he was going to go and get himself infected with something lethal?”

  “So, you didn’t know about that?”

  “That he was infected? No, but it sure gave us the idea how to get back at you.”

  “We’re talking about Dennis, not you and me.”

  Dee sighed. “Dennis never reported having an accident at work. But then again, the company didn’t know how bad this new experimental bug was, either.”

  “Work? It wasn’t Pongo’s?”

  “Ha! What an idiot. Thought you’d have at least figured that part out. Oh dear. I give you too much credit. Yes, you see, the company Heather’s parents work for, the one April’s—or should I say Rhonda, you remember Rhonda, don’t you, one of my buddies from the old days?—well, her mother works for them, too, as their staff medical doctor. They discovered this new superbug, were doing genetic studies on it and— Well, it’s actually Dennis’s fault for being so clumsy. All totally unintentional.”

  “Heather says it wasn’t an accident. She thinks someone did it on purpose.”

  “Who? Me? Wy would I want to hurt Dennis? I liked him.”

  “But then he died. And then Trevor shows up.”

  Theresa thought about this for a moment. “And you…you think Dennis came back from the dead? You think Trevor is Dennis, just new and improved? You really are nuts. The experimental stuff doesn’t like that, honey.” She started laughing. “You really are a piece of work, Claire.
You’ll believe anything.”

  “So, you’re telling me Dennis is really dead.”

  “Sadly, yes, and so will you be, Claire. Soon. In fact…” She waved her hand dismissively. “As far as I’m concerned, you already are.”

  Claire smiled. Yes, she was, wasn’t she? But, unlike Dennis, she hadn’t stayed dead.

  ‡ ‡ ‡

  Trevor smiled and wrapped his arm around Claire and kissed her perfect cheek.

  “You’re so cold,” he said, looking a little worried.

  “I’m fine,” she answered, nuzzling his neck. “Now come on. I’ve got the limo by the hour, and I don’t want to waste a minute of it standing here on your doorstep.”

  The driver came around the front to open the door for them. He stood back.

  “I hope you don’t mind that we’re double dating,” Claire said, as they entered the limo.

  Trevor nodded at Heather and her new boyfriend, a rather plainish but nice enough boy named Gus who still looked like he couldn’t believe his luck in landing a date with one of The Five. But then again, he might not think he was so lucky after spending the entire evening with Heather, not unless he could figure out a way to keep his sanity.

  Stop it, Claire scolded herself. Be nice. After all, Heather is your new best friend. Not best best friend. There was only room for one anymore.

  “Where’s the rest of the group?” Trevor asked.

  “The others won’t be joining us tonight,” Claire announced. Or ever.

  Trevor raised an eyebrow, but didn’t push. Instead, he asked where they were going to dinner.

  “I’m actually not very hungry,” Claire said. She licked her full, luscious red lips, patted her tight, flat tummy. The moonlight shone on her flawless skin. “I already ate.” Simone’s brain had been sweeter, but Dee’s had been the more satisfying. She’d left April; in exchange, April promised to supply her with medicine.

  She grabbed Trevor’s arm and gently fingered the back of his hand. “What’s this?”

  Trevor looked down, his face twisting with horror. Claire laughed. “Don’t worry, honey,” she said. “I won’t leave you because of a tiny little scratch.” She lifted the cut to her mouth and kissed it tenderly. Then she reached into her handbag. “Don’t want it to get infected, do we?”

  Her heart gave a rare beat as she rubbed the ointment into Trevor’s nearly perfect skin, and she thought how true it was: Beauty really is fleeting. But dead…

  Well, dead is forever.

  OTHER TITLES BY SAUL TANPEPPER

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  My undying thanks to the devoted staff of Brinestone Press for their keen eye and gentle but firm touch in helping me bring this story to life, for believing every step of the way that I could raise the dead.

  To my devoted fans and followers on Twitter (http://twitter.com/saultanpepper), especially the zombie apocalypse junkies. Everything’s better with the #zombie hashtag.

  My deepest gratitude goes to my family for their unflagging support. Without them, I would not be able to create worlds with such richness to them.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Saul Tanpepper is a writer of speculative fiction for teens and adults. A former molecular geneticist originally from Upstate New York, he now calls Northern California home.

  If you enjoyed Skin Deep, please check out the short story collection Zombies in Bermuda Shorts and Other Atrocities: A Grab Bag of Horror and Humor for Young Adults, available from Amazon and other ebook distributors beginning January 2012. Additional titles from this collection will be available in electronic format after September 2011.

  Also stay tuned for his zombie pandemic novel Touch, which will be released May 2012.

  For more information about the author and his writings, please check out his website: http://www.tanpepperwrites.com.