Unleashed: Part 3 (Unleashed Series)

by Rachel McClellan

  The music changed just then, the beat pulsing fast, matching the rate of her heart. Claire pushed her way through hormone-crazed men and women to the center of the club. She jumped up and down, her fist punching into the air, her mind melting into the chaos around her.

  Arms came around her waist and a body pressed against hers, moving with her, no longer up and down, but swaying left and right. She knew it was Gage by the strength of his grip. A normal girl would've cried out in pain, but Claire wasn't normal anymore. She laughed at the thought, and dropped her head back to Gage's shoulder. He turned his head and snaked his tongue up and down her neck.

  Claire squirmed to face him. The look in his eyes should've frightened her, but instead it thrilled her. She danced around him, swaying her hips, pressing against him, hands sliding up and down his body.

  They continued this foreplay for almost an hour, challenging even the worst of the public display offenders. She thought of Ethan, and wondered why she felt no love for him. Maybe to rid one’s self of sorrow and pain, love had to be abandoned, too. And in that moment, with Gage next to her, she was fine with that.

  Finally, Claire stepped away, breathing heavily. Gage had the look of a hungry lion, and he moved to grab her again, but she knocked his hand away.

  "I'm thirsty," she said.

  "And?"

  "And I want a drink."

  Gage remained where he was standing, and she could practically see the battle warring in his head as if he couldn’t stand being told what to do, even by her. Finally, he said, "Fine. I'll be right back, but you better give me something when I return."

  She nodded her head once.

  Gage disappeared in between dancing couples. As soon as she lost sight of him, she turned around and continued to dance, eyes closed. The music felt alive to her, more intense. It was as if the musical notes had somehow become a part of her.

  "A girl like you shouldn't be dancing alone."

  She opened her eyes.

  A man with a receding hair line and sweat dripping off his face moved closer, jerking his body in an awkward dance move no one should ever attempt.

  "Get lost," she said.

  "Feisty one, eh? I dig that." The man put his hands behind his head and began to thrust his hips in her direction.

  Claire felt like hitting him so she did. When she heard the sound of his nose breaking, she was surprised and looked down at her balled fist.

  "What the—"

  She hit him again to shut him up. And to test her strength. He stumbled back into a crowd of people and then fell to the ground. She kicked him in the stomach, completely flipping him over. If only she could’ve been this strong when she had hit Corey.

  "Feels good, doesn't it?" Gage said from behind her.

  She turned around and took the glass out of his hand. "I'm bored."

  She downed the pink liquid.

  He took her hand. "Let's go then. There's a whole world waiting for us."

  Several hours later Claire and Gage sat in an open boxcar, their legs dangling a few feet above train tracks.

  "It's getting light," he said.

  Claire looked up. The black was fading, much like the drug in her system. Flashes of painful emotions were beginning to break through the numbness. They hurt. She tossed a can of spray paint into the side of a brick warehouse.

  "It sucks going back, doesn't it?" he said. "It doesn't have to be that way, you know."

  Claire jumped from the boxcar. "I know."

  She picked up an empty beer bottle and threw it into the brick wall. And then another. The shatter of glass, exploding into a million pieces, didn't make her feel any better. She turned around looking for something else to throw. The obscene pictures spray painted on the side of the train reminded her of all the horrible things she and Gage had done. She tried to block it out, but her growing emotions refused to be ignored.

  "One more dose, Claire." Gage tossed the beer bottle in his hand.

  An image of Ethan appeared in her mind. "Do you have one with you?"

  Her heart felt like it was going to break.

  He shook his head. "But I'll leave it for you."

  "Soon," she said.

  Gage jumped from the boxcar and took her in his arms. "All your pain will go away forever, I promise. And if you want revenge, no prison walls will keep us out."

  She nodded, liking that idea very much.

  Chapter Ten

  Using another stolen car, Gage dropped off Claire in the woods behind her house. She snuck back into her room and quietly went into the bathroom where she threw up several times, trying hard not to wake Kate or Steph. She couldn’t believe the way she’d acted, or the perverse things she and Gage had done to each other. The guilt weighing on her was like nothing she'd ever felt before, and she'd give anything to erase the memories of the night’s events forever. Her heart ached for Ethan. She loved him. Really loved him and didn't want to forget that love or ruin it either.

  She slumped down on the cold tile floor for a long time until she heard a knock on the door.

  "Claire? You in there?" Kate asked.

  "Yeah."

  "I need to go."

  "One sec." She quickly wiped at her eyes with the back of her hands. She hated the position she was in. She didn't want the pain, but she didn't want Gage either.

  "I really gotta go," Kate said again.

  Claire sniffed and smoothed her hair back. "Done." She opened the door.

  Kate snuck by her and closed the door.

  Steph was still asleep in the living room. Claire glanced at the clock. Almost eight. She returned to her room and climbed in bed. She stayed there even when Kate tried to get her to come out for breakfast, even when her friends left, and even when Logan showed up right after.

  "I don't feel good, Logan," she said, her back to him.

  "What did you guys do last night?"

  "Girl stuff." She felt sick. She wanted to throw up again.

  He sat on the side of her bed and rubbed her back. "You can talk to me, you know that right?"

  "No."

  Logan sighed. "Then I'll prove it somehow."

  "I wish you could.” More words stung her tongue so she said them. "I hurt, Logan, and I don't know who can help."

  She almost cried then, but held on. She might be crying to the enemy, and she didn't want Gage to see.

  Logan laid down in the bed next to her and put his arm around her. "Soon, Claire. You'll know the truth. I don't know if I can protect you or not, but at least you'll know who you can trust."

  "And that's enough." Her shoulders relaxed and within minutes she was asleep.

  What felt like hours later, Claire finally opened her eyes. She was alone in her room. Sounds from the kitchen slid in through the cracked door. By the light coming from her window she guessed it was some time in the late afternoon.

  She swung her feet over the edge of the bed and sat up. Gage's face flashed in her mind, and she grabbed her head. She saw again what they had done. To others. To each other. Her stomach churned.

  Claire peeked down the hallway into the living room. Ethan had his back to her, cooking something on the stove. He must’ve replaced Logan. She snuck into the bathroom and closed the door quietly. How could she face him? What would she say?

  Those questions haunted her while she showered, and by the time she was finished, she decided not to tell him anything. Not until she discovered Gage’s identity.

  When she stepped out of the tub, she felt a little better. Gage's touch no longer plagued her skin like a disease, but he'd infected more than just her skin.

  After she dressed and brushed her wet hair, she grabbed the gun hiding under several rolls of toilet paper and stuffed it behind her back. She took a deep breath, avoided looking in the mirror, and forced a smile. Everything's fine. Don't think about how you're going to have to kill someone you love. Just figure out who it is first, then worry about pulling the trigger.

  She opened the door. Ethan heard and
rushed down the hallway and swooped her up. "It's so good to see you. I was worried the whole time."

  Claire embraced him back, wishing to stay in his arms forever. If they weren't the arms of a killer. "How was your family thing?"

  He let her go and pulled her into the kitchen. "Uneventful. Boring. So you girls must’ve had some night. You've been sleeping all day."

  "Yeah."

  "Sit down. I made you a sandwich." He set it in front of her and waited. When she didn’t say anything, he said. "So after Logan left, I called Kate and she said you guys crashed before midnight. So what's really going on? Why the vampire sleep?"

  She picked up her sandwich and took a small bite. "Maybe I'm coming down with something.”

  Ethan pulled out a chair and sat down next to her. "Are you sure it’s not something else?"

  "Like what?"

  He grabbed a nearby newspaper and began to tear at the paper. It seemed like he wanted to talk about something, but didn’t know how to bring it up. Finally he said, "I talked to Logan for a while before he left. He was acting really weird."

  She swallowed, forcing the chewed bread to her stomach. "How so?"

  He looked at her, his eyes sad. "Look, I know he's your best friend, and I hate talking bad about him, but—”

  "Just spit it out already.”

  "He threatened me," Ethan said. "He said if I touched you, he'd kill me."

  Claire said nothing. A white drop of mayonnaise oozed from the sandwich and onto the paper plate.

  "I wasn’t going to say anything," he said, "but I think," he took a deep breath, "that Logan may be Gage. It's the only thing that makes sense."

  "No it's not," she said and stabbed at the processed bread with her finger.

  "Who else could it be?” He glanced down. “And why are you destroying the sandwich I made you?"

  She licked her finger and stood up. "None of it matters. It's either you or Logan, and one of you wants to unleash me."

  Ethan stood up too. "Me? You actually think it could be me? I would never, couldn't—"

  "Whatever. I've accepted my fate. I can't run. Can't hide. Can't fight. I just wish one of you would tell me the truth."

  He took her by the shoulders. "Look at me, Claire. It's not me. I love you."

  "I've been hurt by people who claimed to love me before. Those words mean nothing."

  Ethan’s eyes widened. "What can I say or do to make you believe me? Please? I would never hurt you!"

  Claire searched his eyes. She wanted to believe him, and even though she wrapped her arms around him, she wasn't a fool. But how could she lure Gage out?

  Ethan returned her hug, and his muscles relaxed.

  She kept thinking, searching for ways to trap Gage. And then a thought occurred to her. "You know," she said, leaning away from him. "Maybe it wouldn't be so bad."

  She returned to the table and sat down.

  "What?"

  She picked up the mutilated sandwich and took a bite. "Being unleashed. I could do whatever I want. No remorse. No more pain."

  She kept her eyes on him, watching his reaction.

  Ethan joined her at the table and took her hand. "You read Bodian’s report, Claire. You may not experience pain, but you also wouldn’t feel love either. For anything or anyone. Do you really want that?"

  She shrugged. "Don't you think it would be nice though, not to suffer anymore?"

  He let go of her hand and leaned back into the chair, thinking. "Sometimes I don’t like my life. My parents and I don't have the best relationship, but I think that’s normal. I hope anyway. But their weaknesses and mine, only strengthens my love for other things, like you. It’s the bad in my life that helps me to know what kind of man I want to be.” He looked past her, out the window. “This drug of Bodian's, it comes at too high of a price. One should never give up the right to love or be loved. Not only that," he leaned forward and took her hand, "but the drug turns you into something dark and evil. How could you want that?"

  "Because the alternative is just as scary."

  He shook his head. "You can't mean that."

  It was her turn to look out the window. "I don't know if I do or don't. There's so much going on in my head right now. I can't make sense of what's real and what's not."

  Ethan touched her cheek tenderly and turned her face toward him. "What we have is real, Claire. I feel it inside me, and I know you do too, but you're scared. Gage has made you question your strength. It's like he's made you forget your purpose or something."

  "My purpose?"

  "You said it once, but I don't think you realized you said it out loud. You said ‘keep fighting’.”

  She looked at him, really looked.

  "It was that night at your house, after Gage first attacked you. That’s when I realized how strong my feelings were for you. I was trying to tell you this when I saw you check out. I kept talking, but you were somewhere else. And then you touched your necklace,” he reached up and held the raven pendant between his fingers, “and whispered those words. That's when I realized how much you must've gone through, and how strong you must be to keep fighting." He lowered his hand.

  Her pulse raced and she sucked in a great big breath, but when she let it out it was sputtering with emotion. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back, trying to keep the tears from falling.

  "It's okay,” he said. “This is all going to be over soon. I'm going to find proof that it’s Logan, and then we'll drop him off a cliff."

  He smiled like he was joking, but she knew he was very serious.

  Chapter Eleven

  The next day Claire didn’t leave the house, despite Kate’s insistence. Kate wanted to go to the beach, lunch, something, but Claire didn’t have the energy for any of that. It was hard to have the motivation to do anything when you knew your future involved becoming a murderer. Or being murdered.

  For the first time in many days Claire was alone, except for the patrol car still parked outside watching her house. Logan had just left to go to work, and Ethan couldn’t be at her house for a couple of hours. She wondered what would happen during this time. Gage had said he’d get her another dose. This would be the perfect time for that.

  And so she waited. Staring at the wall sweating and wringing her hands.

  Soon the doorbell rang. She jumped to her feet, both excited and frightened, and opened the door.

  “Can you sign this?” a deliveryman asked. It was no one she knew.

  She scribbled her name on an electronic pad. The man handed her a small, five-inch box wrapped in black paper and a shiny black ribbon.

  “Thanks,” she mumbled and closed the door.

  She stared at it for several minutes before deciding she couldn’t open it inside her house. It just didn’t feel right.

  Outside the weather was unusually warm. Or she was just really hot. Claire shed her short sleeve shirt, wearing only a tank top beneath. She headed toward the edge of the forest behind her house and sat down in the grass. The box in her lap felt heavy, almost crushing.

  She touched it and jerked away as if she'd been burned. Part of her yearned to rip it open, but a smaller part spoke warnings. She dropped her head back and stared up into the tree branches. The limbs were all connected to each other, each one holding the other up.

  She looked down, paused, and then tore off the black paper. With a flick of her finger, the lid fell to the ground. She gasped, not because the contents surprised her, but more from relief. A syringe rested on a thin sheet of cotton. Waiting. A permanent Band-Aid.

  Claire picked it up and rubbed it with her thumb. Smelled it. Pressed it to her lips. Such a little thing to make such a big pain go away. She pressed the needle to a blue vein on her arm, and her thumb hesitated above the syringe. It's your choice, she thought and closed her eyes.

  Chapter Twelve

  Hidden in the forest between shadows and old trees, Gage watched Claire. He was glad she had come outside to open it, but seeing her handle the syring
e as if it were gold made him all kinds of hot. She had never looked sexier.

  Just then the faint smell of leather and chemicals tickled Gage’s nose. He cocked his head and listened closely. There were people, at least a dozen, closing on him fast. He resented the distraction from Claire, but he couldn’t have anyone interrupting her special moment. Gage turned away just as she was pressing the needle to her arm and ran deeper into the forest, toward his stalkers. He would never be anyone’s prey.

  It wasn’t long before Gage saw a man wearing a gray, double-breasted business suit with a pink tie standing in a small clearing. Gage slowed and glanced around. He couldn’t see the others, but sensed they were there.

  "Do you have what we want?" the man asked. Gage recognized his voice. It was the same man he’d spoken to on the phone.

  "Nice tie," Gage said. “And by the way, I hate being followed.”

  "Hand over Claire’s information.”

  Gage reached into his pocket and removed the drive. "Why don't you come over here and get it?"

  The man didn't flinch, not even the slightest facial twitch. "Toss it."

  "I have some questions for you first. Why do you want this information on Claire?"

  "We think it's only fair, seeing how she's our property now."

  "Your property?"

  "Yes, thanks to you. She's become part of our experiment, and we like to keep our eyes on our assets."

  Gage took a step forward, anger coursing through him.

  The man raised his hand and said, "Stop. If you come any closer, we’ll shoot."

  Gage laughed and continued to chuckle even when several beams of red lights appeared on his chest. “You think bullets will stop me? I’ll spit them back in your face.”

  “Not bullets,” the man said. “The cure. A nice big dose that will make your existence become non existent.”

  Gage blew air through his nose and tightened his lips. He imagined breaking the nearest branch and throwing it between the eyes of the man in the pink tie. Blood would stain the tie red, a much better color in Gage’s opinion.