Unleashed: A Rouen Chronicles Origin Story

by Raven Steele

  He’d never been so angry before. As for Gage, he didn’t care in the least. In fact, after it had happened, he’d heard Gage laugh. He delighted in the pain of others, plus Corey hadn’t shown any desire to possess Claire. If he had, Corey probably wouldn’t be alive right now.

  As for the other man in Claire’s life, Albert wondered why Gage hadn’t hurt Him yet. Albert knew Gage didn’t like him, simply for the fact that every time Albert saw Claire with Him, all kinds of horrible words would come to his mind and they weren’t his. They were Gage’s. Sometimes Albert thought he didn’t hurt Him because he was using Him for some reason. Or maybe he was just waiting for the perfect time. Or the perfect murder. Claire would be devastated.

  Albert walked to his closet and found his tennis shoes. They were neatly lined with his other three pairs of shoes, all freshly polished from the day before. His mother had seemed more anxious than usual, and as a result made him do all sorts of crazy jobs that she hadn't asked him to do in years. It was almost as if she could sense Gage inside him and it frightened her. But it wasn’t just the chores. His parents let him come and go as he pleased, not even bothering to lock his door anymore. Something was wrong, he felt it, but he couldn’t figure out what.

  Before Albert jumped from his bedroom window, he snatched his backpack and threw it over his shoulder.

  He raced toward the forest only two blocks away. From there he'd find his way to Bodian Dynamics. For the last 48 hours, he'd memorized everything he could find about their security. One way or another he was going to get in and find a cure. Despite what Anne had said, there had to be one. It was his only hope.

  Albert ran fast with a power beyond his own. A part of Gage had seeped into his muscles, igniting them with a fevered energy.

  Within minutes he was crouching outside the gates of Bodian. He unzipped his backpack and removed binoculars. After lifting them to his eyes, he adjusted the lenses until a security guard came into focus just beyond a front window. He was sitting at the front desk reading a book, a beer in front of him. Albert would make his move as soon as the man left the room.

  While he waited, he surveyed the rest of the grounds. Other than a few cars, the parking lot was empty. He should be able to dart across the lawn easily enough just as soon as the guard left his station. Around the back of Bodian, he would use his father’s security badge that he’d taken to sneak into the door next to the loading bay.

  Albert raised the binoculars again. The guard continued to read, occasionally glancing up from his books to check security footage. That would be Albert’s biggest problem as he couldn't find any way to shut the cameras off without setting off an alarm. But he had studied the blueprints long enough that he hoped he could go undetected by staying in blind spots as much as possible. For the rest of the time, he was relying on the guard’s inattentiveness.

  Just then the guard stood up, stretched, and walked away. Here goes nothing. He backed away from the tall fence and crouched low. With his eyes closed, he focused, trying to tap into Gage's strength. If Gage could clear a fence this high, then he should be able to, right?

  He hoped.

  Gage was easy to find, right on the surface of his mind. He could almost feel Gage's smile, as if Gage was waiting for something like this. Albert wondered why Gage hadn't taken over yet. He felt Gage's power and knew he could do it easily enough if he wanted to.

  Time was running out. Albert opened his eyes and rushed the fence. At the last second he leapt into the air. His muscles exploded with energy and propelled him up and over the fence. He was so surprised by how easily he'd cleared the fence that he forgot to pay attention to the landing. His body hit the ground hard.

  Gage laughed.

  Albert quickly stood, shaking his head and the pain away. Then he ran.

  It took less than ten seconds to get to the service entrance by the loading bay. He withdrew his father’s security badge from his pocket and slid it through the card reader on the side of a keypad. The door clicked open. He quickly slipped inside and closed the door behind him.

  Albert waited a few minutes in the darkened room, listening to the gentle hum of an air conditioner above him. On the other side, a faint light glowed beneath a closed door. He felt his way across what he assumed was some sort of an office until he reached the exit. Very slowly he opened the door and peered out into a hallway. A security camera blinked at the end of the hall. Most of the ceiling lights were off except for every third one, leaving periodic shadows. He would stick to those.

  He glanced at his watch. A little over five minutes had passed. Most likely the guard hadn't returned to his post yet. Albert stepped into the hallway and rushed down it, following the maze to his final destination. He had expected more opposition than this. A late night employee or even more lights (most of them had been turned off), but he reached the lab where he’d stolen the vials easily. It unnerved him.

  He paused when his hand reached the doorknob. Something wasn't right. Albert looked down the darkened hallway, half considering going back.

  "Don't be a coward," Gage's voice whispered in his head. And then he was opening the door, not sure if it was him or Gage that had done it.

  When he stepped in, and the door closed behind him, Albert jumped. The room was colder than he'd expected. A breeze from a nearby air conditioner chilled him, and a violent shiver erupted in waves across his skin. He took a deep breath and rubbed his arms.

  A quick scan of the room revealed no security cameras. Good. He'd been worried that Bodian might've installed some after he stole the vials.

  Relaxing somewhat, he moved to the nearest computer and turned it on. A blue cursor blinked next to an empty password field. From within his back pocket, he withdrew a list of passwords he'd stolen from the cell phone. There were twenty-seven of them. He glanced at his watch and then back at his computer. He'd better hurry.

  Albert was only six passwords in when the lights flipped on. Jumping from his chair, he whirled around into a fighting position.

  "Hello, Albert," his father said.

  Instinctively, he took a step back. "Dad? What are you doing here?"

  His father's lip twitched, almost into a smile. "I should be asking you the same question."

  Albert straightened his shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes. "I was looking for you."

  "You're a terrible liar." His father raised a hand to stop him from speaking. “But its okay. I'm not mad. I knew you'd be here tonight."

  "How?"

  "I know everything about you."

  Albert’s face burned red, the heat raced to other parts of him like a wild fire, and he broke out in a sweat. "What are you talking about?"

  "You want a cure,” his father said.

  Albert stumbled forward, a few hopeful steps. Maybe his father could cure him. "You know? About what's been happening to me?"

  "Of course, son."

  Albert’s eyes were wide. “How?”

  His father sat on the corner of a desk; the casualness of it unnerved Albert, like this whole thing was no big deal.

  "You’ve always been a curious boy. A terrible fault, I know, but I hoped one day it would come in handy. And it did. You see, this program has sort of been a pet project of mine, but a few months ago we lost our funding. The whole project with the particular strain you were infected with was cancelled, but then you stole those vials and suddenly became my test subject. At first, I didn’t know whether to be mad at you for stealing or happy that you saved my project.”

  “I can’t believe this,” Albert said, the words barely escaping his lips.

  “In the end,” his father continued while picking up an empty vial from off the top of the desk, “I decided it was the best thing. Not only could my research continue, but I also had the assurance that my son would never become a looser junkie like his older brother.”

  “But I did become a junkie,” Albert said. “To the worst kind of drug imaginable.”

  “That’s where you’re
wrong. This drug has created the finest specimen of men I’ve ever seen!”

  Albert froze and looked up at his father. “Has created? There are more like me?”

  He chuckled and shook his head. “Not exactly, son. There is no one like you. You’re special, and I couldn’t be more proud.”

  "So you used me as a guinea pig?” The words were bitter on his tongue, and he couldn’t swallow. “Do you have any idea what you've done? What I've done? You've turned me into a monster!"

  His father slammed the glass vial against the counter, shattering it. "No! Don't ever call yourself that. You are a god!"

  "But I've done terrible things!” Albert said. He clawed at his chest. “This thing, this beast, inside me is taking over!"

  "Let it. It's who you really are."

  "It's not! I'm not a monster," he said more to himself than his father. "I don't want this."

  "But you will. Soon your stronger self will take over, and you will never feel pain again."

  Albert jerked his head up. "Why don't you take it then? You're the one with issues!"

  "It won't work on subjects past a certain age. The cells in my brain have already begun to die. Yours haven't."

  To try and keep calm, Albert tracked the movement of a small spider crawling up the desk. The spider paused, turned directions, and retreated back down.

  "To what end?" he finally asked, looking at his father. "Once I've been unleashed fully, what will Bodian want with me?"

  "You will work for them, traveling the world, and you will be paid millions to do it."

  "But what will I be doing?"

  "Whatever they tell you to do."

  Albert burst out laughing. "Have you met Gage?"

  His father cocked his head. "Is that what you call him?"

  "It's what he calls himself, and he can't be controlled. He will do whatever the hell he pleases. He won't work for Bodian anymore than he'll be your son!"

  The muscles in his father’s face twitched until they settled into hard lines. "He'll do whatever we tell him to do.”

  "And why's that?"

  "Because if he doesn't," he paused, "then we'll take away the one thing he wants—to exist."

  "How?"

  "We'll give him the cure."

  Blood drained from Albert’s face, and tears stung his eyes. "There's a cure?"

  His father turned away. "Yes."

  Albert fell to his knees. "Please, father! Please give it to me. I don't want to be this! Please take it from me!"

  His father stepped back, away. "You have been given the most valuable gift anyone has ever received, and you want me to take it back? Never. You may not appreciate it now, but one day you'll thank me. Now get out of here, before I call the police."

  "Don't do this, father. I'll talk to mom, she'll help me."

  His father laughed and walked to the door. "Your mother couldn’t be happier with the way things have turned out. Besides, she's out of town for awhile." He opened the door. "Now leave."

  He took hold of his father's arm. "I need that cure! You don't understand. I'm going to hurt people I love!"

  "A necessary consequence.” His father shook him away. “The next time we see each other, you'll be a new man. Be sure to tell Gage I look forward to meeting him, and don't let him get any crazy ideas about hurting any of us. Bodian has their ways of tracking him, and we can make him disappear forever."

  His father reached over and pulled a nearby fire alarm. A high-pitched squeal screamed over Albert's cries. He searched his father's eyes. There was nothing there, only emptiness, cold and dark as a black abyss.

  Albert raced down the halls, faster than before, no longer caring about the security cameras. He didn't know how, but somehow, someday, he would destroy this place.

  Turning into the warehouse office, he was across the room in three steps and bursting through the outside door, knocking it free from its hinges. Before it had a chance to hit the ground, he was already leaping over the fence and speeding into the forest.

  A burning grew in his chest, and at first Albert thought it was because he had exerted himself too much, but when he stopped and the searing heat continued, he knew. He frantically looked around. The forest's darkness surrounded him and pushed on him at all sides. There was no help in this place, or anywhere for that matter. Gage was coming and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

  Albert sunk to the cold ground, a sharp stick pressing against his back. If only it would puncture his heart.

  "Don't think like that," he heard Gage whisper, but it was his own lips moving. And then he slipped away into a terrible black hole.

  Gage stood up, smiled into the night, and stretched. His bones popped into place as they finished their transformation. "So they think they can get rid of me?" he said to the creatures hidden within the forest. He laughed long and hard. The sound was heavy and cold and full of such evil that it bathed the forest in poison, silencing even the crickets.

  "We’ll see about that," he said and disappeared into the darkness.

  Chapter 28

  Claire looked through her bag one final time before zipping it up. She flung it over her shoulder and went to the window to close the curtains. The sun was just coming up; it was bright and full of promise.

  She drew the curtains, her hands clinging to the heavy black material. In less than 48 hours she had a real chance at making all her dreams come true. Tonight she'd be playing on a stage for thousands, but more importantly for potential agents. This was her ticket out of Bandon.

  Claire let go of the curtain and removed her cell phone from her pocket. The only thing she didn't want to leave behind was Ethan. He had tried calling her while she was in the shower, but when she tried to call him back he didn’t answer. Several minutes later, she debated whether or not to call him again, but then scolded herself for being needy. You’re fine, she told herself. Ethan will call.

  She didn’t want to be freaked out, but Anne’s words still scared her. Anne had made her doubt her closest friends. But the moment Ethan had put his arm around her in the backseat of Logan's car, she knew it couldn't be him. There was just no way; she'd know.

  As for Logan, when he'd dropped her off at her house, lingering at her front door, she'd looked into his eyes, the color of oak leaves in spring. They held no deceit, only concern. No, Logan, her best friend since grade school was not Gage. It wasn't possible.

  It was someone else, someone who knew her well or at least her schedule. Like Corey. She could totally imagine him being an evil monster.

  Claire took a deep breath and tightened her grip on her phone. No more thinking of dark things. Today her dreams were going to come true.

  She walked out of her room, glancing once at her mom’s closed door. Not like she expected her to be awake, but it would've been nice to have someone see her off. Valerie would've. That was probably the biggest thing she missed – having an active participant in her life. At least her mom was letting her take the van. Without it, she wasn't sure how they'd get the equipment to Portland.

  After eating a small breakfast, she opened the front door. The sky was gray. A heavy fog clung to the forest and a light mist dampened her skin. Across the street, Smith was leaning against his patrol car like he’d been there all night. She smiled big and crossed the lawn to him. "Good morning, Smith," she said. "What brings you here so early?"

  He uncrossed his arms and straightened. "I think you know what. You shouldn't be going, Claire."

  She sighed. "I appreciate your concern, more than you know, but I have to go. This is a huge opportunity."

  Smith turned his head and stared into the fog. "I don't have a good feeling."

  "Because you're a pessimist. Everything will be fine."

  He turned back to her, shaking his head slowly. "It's not just a bad feeling, it's like,” he hesitated as if trying to find the right words, “something really bad is about to happen. I feel it in my gut."

  “That’s the donuts talking.” She sm
iled, but when her attempt at a joke didn’t crack his serious demeanor, she said, "You've always been good to me even though I don't deserve it half of the time. Thank you for being the one stable adult I can count on." Surprising even herself, she gave him a hug. "I'll be back in three days. Nothing bad is going to happen, but just in case I'll keep my eyes open and will call you if I see anything out of the ordinary." She let him go and stepped back.

  Smith's expression hadn't changed, but he said, "You going to pick up Kate?"

  "Yeah. We're taking the van and Steph and Audrey will be meeting us there."

  "And Logan?"

  Claire looked past his shoulder toward the forest beyond. "He's not coming."

  She wished he was, but he’d said he had to work.

  Smith opened his car door. "Alright then. You girls be careful. And Claire,” his eyes met hers, “you’re going to be amazing."

  "Thanks, Smith." Claire turned to walk away, but stopped and said, "Who knows? Maybe the next time I see you, I'll have a record deal."

  For the first time that morning, he smiled. "I hope so."

  Claire pulled into Kate's driveway feeling great. This was really happening. All she'd been working toward for the last four years was finally here, and she couldn't wait.

  Kate opened the front door of her home and gave her mom a quick hug. The moment she let go she ran toward the car, jumping and punching her arms into the air. She threw open the passenger door and tossed her bag into the back seat. "I'm so freaking excited! I couldn't sleep all night!"

  Claire laughed. "Me, too."

  "Best day ever!"

  Claire sped off, the sounds of their laughter filling the car.

  "So remind me, why are we taking the back roads?" Kate asked, and then took a long sip from a huge mug.