The pain, once burning, began to lessen and change into a coolness that coursed through her blood. She became aware of a couch beneath her, and the soft humming of appliances. She must be in the lifeguard’s lounge.
Claire stretched her legs. They felt much better now that the fire was gone. In fact they felt great, lighter somehow. She opened her eyes.
Logan was kneeling on the floor next to her, his hair wet and head lowered. She watched him for a moment, wondering if it was him who had stabbed her only moments ago, but her thoughts stopped altogether when her system was shocked by a surge of energy. It tightened her muscles, shocked her nerve endings, and even seemed to bring parts of her mind more alive. She sat up and inhaled.
Logan looked up. "You okay?"
Claire nodded slowly, focusing only on her surroundings. She felt incredible, almost as if she were a new person. Everything around her was sharper somehow, more clear. She smiled.
"Claire?" Logan said, frowning.
Her eyes went to the doorway, to where some people were crowding around trying to peek at her through the door’s small window. Some new part of her loved that she was making a spectacle.
“Get out of here!” Logan snapped at them and then returned his attention to Claire. “What happened out there?”
She easily told the truth. "Gage was here. He injected me with something, probably the same drug he takes."
When she said it, she tried to pay attention to his reaction, knowing it was important, but it was hard. She just didn't care.
He took hold of her arm. "Gage was here? When?"
"A while ago. He injected me," she pointed to her neck, "and then took off. Weird."
Logan glanced toward the door.
"Don't worry about it. He's long gone," she said.
He looked back at her. "Don't worry? When he possibly gave you the same stuff that turned him into a monster?" His voice was growing louder.
Claire ruffled his hair. "It’s okay. I'm not going to become a homicidal maniac quite yet. Gage told me on the cliffs that it takes three times, but whatever it is, I feel great." She stood and stretched. "Quit staring at me like that. It's not a big deal."
"Would you listen to yourself?" He stood up. "This is huge! I can't believe you're not freaking out!"
She rolled her eyes just as the door flew open. Kate and Ethan rushed in.
Ethan came to her, his gaze scanning her up and down.
"I thought you said she was messed up?" he said, glancing back at Kate.
Kate's mouth was open. "She was. She was having some sort of a seizure on the ground."
Claire let out a long, exaggerated breath. "You guys, I'm fine. Can we please just go swimming already?"
Logan was shaking his head. “Not until we understand what happened."
"What happened?" Ethan asked.
“I’m bored. Later," Claire said.
She opened the door and walked straight toward the beach, not caring when she stepped on people’s blankets or kicked up sand. Every part of her breathed with new life and she no longer felt any guilt or anger, not even in the deepest part of her heart where she concealed her darkest pains.
All of it was just gone.
So this is what it felt like to be alive. She wanted to run, dance, scream; nothing seemed impossible. She dived into the water. The coolness of it didn’t shock her like she thought it would. She stayed underwater for a long time, feeling like she could hold her breath forever. Whatever drug Gage had injected her with, she loved it.
When her head broke the surface of the water, she heard, "Claire!" She glanced toward the beach. Ethan and Kate were standing together calling her name.
She swam toward them, until she could touch bottom, and then walked out of the sea.
"What do you think you’re doing?" Kate asked. “We need to get you checked out.”
Claire shook her wet hair. "What's it to you? I'm not hurting anyone."
"Yeah, well, you’re not acting real smart right now," Kate said while scratching at the inside of her cast.
"At least I'm doing exactly what I want to do instead of always dreaming about it."
Kate glared at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Claire knew what she was about to say would hurt Kate, but she no longer had a filter. "I think that cast is the best thing that could've happened to you. Call it a reality check, Kate, cuz its not like you're going anywhere. You're going to end up exactly like your mother—working in a truck stop diner for the rest of your life."
By Kate’s expression, Claire might as well have slapped her.
"I can’t believe I called you my best friend," Kate said before she turned around and walked away.
"Claire," Ethan said, his voice stern, "we need to talk."
"I don't want to talk." She walked over to him and cuddled up to his chest. "Keep me warm," she said, even though she wasn't cold.
He took her by both arms and pushed her away. "Logan told me what Gage did to you. This is serious."
She looked into his eyes. "Is it? Maybe this is what you secretly want."
His brow furrowed. "I would never want this for you. And what does that even mean?"
A smile played at her lips.
"You think I'm Gage?” he asked. “That's insane."
She shook free of his grip.
Ethan continued to talk. "Gage injected you with poison. Do you get that?"
She walked back toward the water. "I don't care, Ethan. This is the first time in my life where I don’t feel like I have to fight."
She dove into the water and swam away.
Chapter Seven
Gage stared down at Claire from the top of the cliff. She swam expertly, despite the fact that the tide was coming in. He knew what she was feeling, and would've given anything to be there with her, sharing her high, feeling as if they were the only two people in the world. He breathed in deeply trying to smell her bliss.
But he couldn't get distracted.
He turned away from Claire and took the long way home on a trail through the forest. He couldn't be seen just yet. She was close to figuring out his true identity, and it would really mess up his plans if she did it too soon.
He began to jog, thinking how wonderful it was not to worry about Albert anymore. For the most part, Gage now had enough control over him that he could use Albert’s voice and body to lie to Claire. She would believe anything he said.
He leapt over a fallen log.
Gage thought about taking Albert back to the beach. The others might notice he was missing, but after what just happened with Claire they probably all went home.
In the end, though, he decided not to. Screw them all. In just a few days, Claire would be his and together they would leave this place forever.
Gage snuck through Albert’s back yard, mindful of any nosey neighbors. He moved to open the door, but discovered it was locked. With one hard tug, Gage broke the lock and opened the door.
The house was quiet except for the sounds of his shoes against the linoleum floor, which he deliberately scuffed up, leaving angry black marks on the floor. It was good to have the house to himself—he froze. The air stirring about the kitchen smelled different. Coffee and, he sniffed, hot dogs?
He walked into the living room. Lying on the coffee table was a small brown box and an envelope. He picked up the box first and looked inside. A silver phone. He tossed it onto the couch and tore into the envelope. It read:
Keep this on you at all times. We'll be in touch,
Your friends at Bodian.
He crumpled up the paper and tossed it next to the phone. Something would have to be done about Bodian. He didn't want to be anyone's call girl.
Just then the cell phone rang in the form of a popular rap song. He resisted the urge to smash it. Just before it stopped ringing, he picked it up and answered it. “What?”
"I see you found the phone. Do you like it? It was very expensive," a deep voice said.
"What do you
want?"
The voice was quiet, then, "We have a job for you."
"Hurry up and tell me. I have my own things to do."
"That's great, Gage, but don't forget that we are and always will be your priority." His voice was short and even deeper than before.
Gage echoed his tone. "Not for long."
"Don't threaten us. Your life is expendable."
Gage grabbed a nearby lamp and tossed it across the room. "What's the job?"
"We want you to steal Claire Williams' medical records from the hospital."
This surprised him. "Why?"
"That's none of your business. Just go to the hospital you put her in—”
"She barely had a scratch."
"Get to a computer and download her information—”
"Sounds easy."
"—onto a zip drive, which you are to keep with you wherever you go."
"How 'bout at your mom’s house?"
"We'll find you and get it when we are ready. Understand?"
He picked up a book and tossed it after the lamp. It made a dent in the wall. "Anything else, Master?”
"We'll contact you soon." The man hung up.
Gage almost tossed the phone, but at the last second overturned the glass coffee table instead. He didn't know if he was angry at being told what to do or more upset that they were messing with his Claire.
He paced from the kitchen to the living room. What would they want with Claire? Maybe they knew what he'd done to her earlier today, or maybe they were going to do something to her because she was close to discovering his identity.
Either way he had to do something about Bodian. Later. First, he had to break into a hospital to find out what they wanted with Claire.
Twenty minutes later, Gage pulled into the hospital’s parking lot and walked in wearing a lab coat with his head held high. He nodded and smiled at people he passed. He even chuckled when someone said, "Hello, Doctor."
Gage stopped in front of the hospital’s directory. It took him only a moment to find what he was looking for—an office that would have very little traffic this time of day, a neurosurgeon’s. He moved over to the elevators and snuck in the doors just as they were closing.
A pretty red-haired nurse asked, "Going up?"
"Yes, please. Third floor."
She pressed the button. "That's where I'm going. Are you a doctor?"
"One day. I'm actually here to pick up some scans for a doctor across town."
"Oh." She glanced at him sideways. "Do you come here very often?"
Was she flirting with him? He inched toward her. "Just moved here. From Hawaii."
Her brown eyes lit up. "Oh, I've always wanted to go there. Is it as beautiful as it is on television?"
He shrugged. "It's the same. But the girls are definitely hotter here.”
She giggled.
He placed his hand on the wall behind her, just above her shoulder. "When's your lunch break?"
"I'm just getting back."
The elevator doors opened. "Too bad. Hey, do you mind taking me to Dr. Harrisburg’s office?"
He let her pass before he followed her out. Scrubs do nothing for the female figure, he noticed.
"Sure. It's this way, but he’s not in there. He’s in surgery."
"No problem. I'm sure he left the file for me on his desk. What's your name?"
She looked over her shoulder at him. "Megan. What's yours?"
"Jack."
She stopped in front of an office door. "Nice to meet you, Jack. This is Mr. Harrisburg's office."
He looked inside and then back at Megan. "Could you go in and get it? I don't like to go into doctors’ offices when they're not in."
"How very honest of you," she said. She slipped past him and into the office, batting her eyelashes at him over her shoulder.
He pointed. "I bet it’s that big manila envelope in the basket over there."
"Will it have your name on it?"
"It should."
Megan turned her back to look through the basket. Gage stepped into the room and quietly closed the door.
"I don't see—”
He cut off her words by placing his hand over her mouth. His other arm wrapped around her chest. "Listen to me closely and you might get out of this alive, do you understand?"
When she didn't respond, he moved his other hand up to her neck and squeezed. "Do you understand?"
She nodded.
"I want you to go to that computer over there and log me into the hospital's system. Can you do that?"
She nodded again.
"Good girl. I'm going to let go now,” he said. “And remember, don’t make a sound." Gage slowly removed his hand and turned her around. Her whole body trembled beneath his grip.
He stroked her face, wiping a tear from her eye. "If only I had more time," he mumbled. Her eyes flashed to the door.
"Get to it," he said, motioning to the computer. "And no tricks."
Megan sat down, her eyes continually looking at the doors. "Please don’t kill me. I’ll do whatever you want,” she said. Her voice squeaked as if her throat was still being constricted.
He placed his hands on her shoulders. "Just do what I want. And hurry."
She moved the mouse and the computer screen came to life.
"I can't access the Doctor’s personal files," she said. Her hand was shaking so badly that the cursor on the screen kept bouncing.
"I don't care about the doctor. Just get into the hospital’s records." He squeezed her shoulders.
She yelped, but entered her name and password when prompted. "Okay, you're in. What are you looking for?"
"You'll never know," Gage said. He turned his arm and elbowed her hard into her temple. She slumped forward, unconscious.
Gage pushed her out of the chair and took her place. He stretched once and cracked his knuckles before typing "Claire Williams" and her birth date.
Claire's file appeared on the screen, but he didn't bother reading it. He'd save that for when he was alone and could decipher what Bodian was after. In addition to saving the files to a zip drive, he also printed them.
As soon as the document finished printing, he tucked the papers under his arm and walked from the office. Soon he would be hiding behind Albert’s face, with him still in charge, of course. Albert was his puppet, and he, the puppet master. If he listened hard enough, he could still hear Albert begging for release.
A sudden thought occurred to him, a solution to the other man in Claire’s life. Originally Gage had planned a wonderful death for Him just as soon as Claire had been unleashed, but what if “Albert” could convince her that the other boy was Gage? And maybe, just maybe, he could convince her to kill Him.
Gage laughed. He would love to watch her kill the boy who claimed to love her.
Chapter Eight
Claire stayed at the beach for several hours, swimming, laying out, speaking to strangers, basically doing whatever she felt like. A couple of times she caught glimpses of Logan and Ethan, separate from each other, but she ignored them.
Eventually she returned home when she grew hungry and tired. For a long time she stared at the television even though it wasn’t turned on. And slowly, like the fog that often rolled into Bandon, her inner pain returned. And it was stronger, lurking just beneath the surface, like a shark stalking its prey.
She thought back to her behavior and how cruel she'd been to Kate. It made her angry. Gage. He'd done this.
Claire tightened her fists and imagined all the ways she could hurt him. She pictured him injured and bleeding. What it would look like. What she might smell. She hoped to rip his eyes out, ram an ice pick up his nose, stab a— Claire stopped, surprised by her thoughts. Never had she thought this violently about someone else before. Even her own father.
The Bodian drug. Her violent thoughts must be a delayed side effect.
Claire clawed at her neck, wishing she could peel the skin off and drain the poison from her.
T
he doorbell rang.
She sat up, heart pounding. Please go away. Whoever it was, she didn't want to face them.
A knock on the door moved her to the edge of the couch.
"Claire?"
It was Ethan.
"Come on, Claire. If you're in there, please answer the door."
She stood, her pulse beating in her ears. She wanted to run to him, feel safe in his arms, but she wouldn't be safe. He could be Gage hiding behind Ethan’s face and gentle voice.
"Alright. I'm leaving," he said.
His words left her cold, and she didn’t want to feel that way on top of everything else. Most of all, she didn’t want to be alone.
Claire rushed to the front door and opened it. They stared at each other long and hard. Because he didn't say anything, neither did she. The air between them felt pressurized, like at any moment it might explode.
Finally he took a step toward her.
"You got dressed," he said, and she didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Please don't be Gage.
"Ethan, I—”
"Let's go inside and talk.” He took hold of her hand.
Claire sat down on the sofa, expecting him to sit next to her, but instead he got on his knees in front of her. He leaned over onto her lap and stared into her eyes. "First, how are you feeling? Are you back to your old self?"
She looked down. "I think so. I am so sorry."
He squeezed her hand. "The only thing you should be sorry for is not telling me about what Gage was going to do sooner. Maybe I could've prevented it."
"That's what scares me. I don't think anyone can stop him. He's going to unleash me and there's nothing anyone can do about it."
"That's not true. You can leave, just like you planned."
"I'm not going anywhere. He'll kill everyone I know."
"He's bluffing. He can't kill everyone."
"Yes, he can. I've felt the same power that's in him, experienced just a fraction of his thoughts, and I haven't even been unleashed yet."
Ethan was quiet, then, "You can't be alone. There's no other way around it."
"I'm not alone. Smith still has a cop following me around."
Unleashed: Part 3 (Unleashed Series) Page 4
