He raised his chin. "I'll kill him if I have to."
"Don’t worry about it. I’m prepared to do what’s necessary. If Gage is you or Ethan, or even my own mother, I'll fight. To my death if I have to."
Logan was shaking his head. He moved to her and took hold of her hand. "You've been through so much, but at least you don't have to go through this alone. I'm always here. Best friends forever, right?"
Claire couldn’t smile.
"Just promise me one thing," he said.
"What?"
"Promise me you'll keep an open mind about Ethan. Don't believe everything he says. I'm not a hundred percent sure he is Gage, but I can't think of any other person it could be. Promise me you'll be careful."
"I will. Just as careful as I'll be with you."
"Fair enough. What time are the girls going to be here?"
"Soon."
"Can I wait here until they get here?
"Sure."
A short time later Steph and Kate showed up. Audrey couldn't come because she had a bad cold.
"I'm just a phone call away," Logan said as she walked him to his car.
Claire gave him a hug. "I know, thanks."
"Let's get this party started!" Kate called from the open doorway. Already music was blaring.
Logan opened his car door. "You sure you don't need protection from her?"
"I'll manage."
She waved goodbye to Logan, but before she returned to the house, she knocked on Officer Johnson’s window.
"How are you doing, Sir?" she asked when he rolled the window down.
"Good. My wife Jenny just brought some coffee and donuts. How many more people do you plan on having over?"
"This is it. Just getting in some girl time."
"Well if anyone needs it, it’s you."
Claire smiled. "Thanks again for doing this. I feel much safer knowing you're here."
He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. "You have fun tonight, Claire. And don't worry about a thing."
That's exactly what she planned on doing.
The rest of the night she, Kate and Stephanie decided to stick to the middle school theme. They prank called the cutest boys in town, did each other’s nails and hair, and completed every quiz in Teen Magazine. Claire was having a great time until Kate decided to mention Gage.
"I don't want to talk about him," she said and screwed a cap onto bright blue nail polish.
"Haven't the cops found him yet?" Steph asked.
Claire leaned back into the couch. "Not yet.”
"That freak needs to be stopped," Kate said while shaking her good hand in the air to dry her nails. "He ruined my music career."
Steph rolled her eyes. "Don't be dramatic, Kate. You get your cast off in three more weeks."
"Yeah, well, his little stunt with the car made us miss the biggest night of our lives. We could've signed an agent there."
Claire looked at Kate. "More importantly, you could've been killed."
“Right. I guess there’s that.” Kate stood up from the couch. "You have any popcorn?"
"In the cupboard. You ready for the movie?"
"Popcorn first, then movie," Steph said, and jumped up to help Kate in the kitchen.
A short time later they were all lying in sleeping bags on the floor surrounded by every kind of junk food imaginable. They stayed awake through the first movie, but at some point during the second everyone fell asleep.
Claire's eyes opened. The room was dark except for a faint glow coming from the television. It took a minute for her to orient herself. She looked around. Kate was sleeping sideways, her feet touching the top of Steph's head. Claire smiled. Since Kate was little she never could sleep straight in any bed.
Claire picked up the remote and turned off the television. She was about to lie back down when she heard a faint scuffling sound in her bedroom. She waited, holding completely still to see if the sound came again. It did, louder this time. She glanced at her friends wondering if she should wake them.
There it was again. A drawer sliding closed. Slowly.
Her heart began to pound. Stay calm. It was probably just Logan or Ethan, checking up on her. And going through her things? Her breathing quickened. Stand up. Go see.
"Logan?" she whispered into the hallway.
She took two steps into the dark, listening carefully for any sounds. When none returned, she moved further into the darkness until she reached her room. Where the gun was. Under the bed. She didn’t think she’d need it with the girls.
"Logan? Are you in there?" she whispered again. She leaned into her room. Just barely. Her window was open. A cool breeze pushed moonlight into her room. It appeared empty, but the chill creeping up her spine told her otherwise.
She glanced back to the living room. It would take her three seconds to run there, at least thirty to wake Steph and Kate, and another thirty for all of them to run from the house. But it would take less than five seconds for Gage to kill both Kate and Steph and inject her with another dose.
Another dose.
She couldn’t hold back the pleasurable sigh escaping from her lips. Just thinking about the way it had made her feel calmed her racing heart. She wished it didn’t.
Claire slipped into the room, hoping the only reason for her action was to protect Kate and Steph, and not because she wanted relief from the pain in her heart.
"How very brave," Gage said, his voice low. He moved out from within the shadows, but the darkness seemed to stretch with him.
"Step into the moonlight," she said.
He took one long step until he was standing inches from her. She looked up into his eyes, searching for any signs of someone she might love. "Who are you really?"
"I'm your Savior," he said as he pressed a needle into her neck.
She fought against him for just a moment before her eyes rolled back, and when she fell, Gage caught her and slowly lowered her to the ground, cradling her in his arms.
"It will all be over soon," he said as he caressed her face.
Claire barely heard him over the explosion of pain in her head. It spread throughout her whole body and she shook violently. In its wake came darkness, much like the shadow that had been clinging to Gage. It coated her insides like a cold winter frost, numbing all the years of hurt and betrayal. The storm calmed. She looked up at Gage and smiled.
"You want to get out of here?"
"Hell yes."
He helped her up and motioned to the window. "After you."
She hesitated for a fraction of a second to listen to a familiar voice whispering a warning in the back of her mind. But the voice was small. And weak.
Claire easily ignored it and leapt from the window. She ran into the forest and was greeted by a heavy fog. It wrapped around her like a warm blanket.
Gage caught up to her moments later. He pulled her to a stop. "How do you feel?"
"Like I’ve been plugged in. It's amazing! The stars, the air," she spun around, "the earth. I just want to," she struggled to find the right words, "eat it all gone." She laughed. "Does that make sense?"
His eyes burned with passion, a fire she felt too. "I couldn't have said it better,” he said. “Come on. Let's go do whatever we want." He took off running and Claire followed.
When they reached the street, Gage stopped and looked around. "Over there," he said. She followed his gaze. An old, black restored Ford Mustang was parked in someone's driveway. She grinned.
Gage went to it and smashed his fist through the backside window. He unlocked it. "Get in."
She obeyed and watched while he pulled off the panel beneath the steering wheel and began to mess with wires. A moment later the engine roared to life.
"Nice," she said and swept her hair to the side. She noticed it was darker, blacker.
Gage peeled out of the driveway, spitting gravel in all directions, and sped down the road.
"Where we going?"
"Somewhere loud and crowded. I'm itching for some action."
"I can handle that."
Thirty minutes later he illegally parked in front of The Hole. The place was packed, more so than last time. Music spilled onto the streets and into the line of people waiting to get inside. A tall bouncer with muscles practically bursting from his tight t-shirt came toward Gage when they exited the car.
"Hey!" the bouncer said. "You can't park there."
Gage tossed him the keys. "Keep it,” he said and attempted to pass by him, but the man placed a fist (Claire thought it looked more like a bear paw) against his chest.
"Where do you think you're going?" the bouncer asked.
Gage took hold of his hand and twisted it back. "We are getting in there. Do you understand?"
The bouncer should've been worried about his hand, but he seemed more frightened by the look in Gage's eyes. "Do whatever you want, man," he choked out.
“Don’t worry. We will.” Gage took hold of Claire's arm and pulled her up the stairs. With her free hand, she waved at the line of people shouting protests at them and walked inside.
The club was exactly what she needed right now—loud, dark, and full of smells that excited the brain. Several lights, high on the ceiling, twisted and turned, spraying light into the darkness. Wherever it touched, Claire caught snap shots of moving body parts: an arm twisting, a leg bouncing, a couple kissing. It was as if she’d walked into a den of nocturnal animals full of pheromones.
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 38
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."
&n
bsp; "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?"
Paranormal After Dark: 20 Paranormal Tales of Demons, Shifters, Werewolves, Vampires, Fae, Witches, Magics, Ghosts and More Page 166
