Changes (22 page)

Each of them smiled at Jimmy, and turned with the older man and all three of them left the room in turn, with Ross being the first.

Gary looked to the group, but instead of following them, he walked towards the bed. He stopped at its side, and bent over Jimmy. “How does it feel to be locked up like this freak?” He smiled down. He liked watching it like this. He loved how the wimp looked so absolutely terrified. He loved it so much; it felt hard to contain the feelings. He looked the way he should have always looked, from the very beginning.

Jimmy didn’t answer him. He just turned and looked back up to the ceiling instead.

“As soon as they’re done with you, you and me are going to have some fun together?” Gary brought himself closer to the wimp’s face. They now almost seemed to be nose-to-nose.

Jimmy could feel his hot breath on his face.

“Then, we’ll see how fast you can run? Then, we’ll see how loud you can scream?” Gary smiled.

Ross, now outside of the room, looked back to the bed and saw Gary standing over his prize.
Why can’t they just leave the poor boy alone! When will they ever learn?
“Enough of this Gary.” He felt rather tired of having to go through this all over again.

Gary turned his head back to the doorway, but stayed where he was. He turned back to Jimmy. “I’m going to have a lot of fun hunting you down, like I did with your friend?” His smile grew ten times larger on his face.

Hearing him, Jimmy turned back to Gary’s eyes. Instantly, he could feel his face turn hot. His mind turned hotter. “You’re the one that killed Collins?”

Gary laughed to his face. “I did.” He lowered his voice to a whisper. Ross never let him have any fun. “And after I do you, I’m going to have a ton of fun with that girl as well?”

Jimmy’s face caught on fire. “You touch one hair on her head, and I promise you, you’ll never feel anything but pain again.” He growled as his heart picked up pace and his mind began to grow numb. Rachel’s face passed before his eyes, and it caused the anger in him to grow into a rage.

Gary laughed at that one, and stood back straight to his feet.

“Enough of this!” Ross shouted back into the room. “Leave him be!”

Gary looked to him and nodded. “Just getting some ground rules straight, that’s all.”

Ross sighed.

Gary turned back to the bed. “Sleep tight.” He turned and walked back to the double doors. Before he left the room, he hit the light switch on the wall to the left of the door, and sent the entire room into a complete and total darkness. He closed the door behind him as he left.

Jimmy watched him leave. He took a deep sigh. Once again, he tried to move his arms, but couldn’t. He tried to move his legs, but found that they too seemed to be fastened to the side of the bed. He now didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know what to think. His mind felt like nothing more but a jumble of thoughts and images. The only thing he could do was hate being where he was. He hated not being able to move. He hated not being able to see. He had nothing else. He felt lost. He felt completely alone.

Rachel readied the vials. She took out several, along with a fresh set of needles, and when she finished with everything she needed, she went to the microscope and adjusted it some to get it ready for everything as well. Standing at the far counter, opposite from the door, she heard footsteps coming towards her lab. Hearing them, she sighed. She turned, expecting to see Jimmy, and found herself dying to see him again.

The person that did come only caused any excitement she had to leave her all too fast.

Gary walked in with a stride in his steps. He felt beyond fantastic, he felt downright powerful. It seemed that he had taken care of all of his problems with one easy swipe of the hand. He couldn’t believe how easy it was. Everything happened beyond his own expectations. Walking into the room and seeing her made him feel like he was ready to start a night of play.

“Gary?” She sighed with dryness in her mouth. Seeing him, made her cringe. She hated the feeling, so she turned from the door and looked back to the microscope instead. Ignoring him might make him leave. Sometimes it worked, but most of the time it didn’t.

“Miss me?” He sounded beyond prideful, he felt downright complete. In fact, he almost sounded giddy.

“What are you doing here?” She didn’t look at him, but just kept her eyes down towards the counter.

“What are you doing?” He crossed the room and made his way to her with a swagger in his stride. His boots made all of the right sounds, and the gun belt cracked in all the right ways. God, he felt so good. He felt like he was on cloud nine. Hell, he might be even higher than that.

“What are you doing here?” she asked him again, and this time she looked up. Her face turned to scorn. She actually exaggerated it to prove her point.

He came right up beside her, and the smell of her perfume filled his senses. “I wanted to come over and see how you’ve been. It’s been a long time since I last saw you.” He looked down at the back of her neck, and what a beautiful neck it was.

“I’m kind of busy right now, Gary.” She looked back down to the microscope. “Why don’t you go someplace else to play?” Seeing his face was enough. He looked like nothing but pompousness.
God, he’s such a piece of work!

He looked down at the microscope and couldn’t help but notice the several vials and the needles sitting next to the scope. “What are you working on?” He smiled. He didn’t really care, of course. He didn’t come there to see what she was doing. He only wanted to see her, and quite frankly, he didn’t care about anything she did.

“Nothing really.” She could tell by his voice, which sounded low and non-caring, that he didn’t come there to learn about anything she did. He was an asshole, and that was that.

“Doesn’t look like nothing?” His smile widened as the mustache curled under his nose.

She hated his smile. “I’m getting ready to check out some new blood samples.” She looked back to the microscope, bent down, and looked into the single eyepiece at the top of it. “But, you didn’t come here to see what I was working on did you?”

 “You know me, oh so well.” He laughed, and his voice bellowed. Joy erupted from his mind.

“Actually, I wish I didn’t.” She looked back up. She had no time for his games with more important things on her mind. The sooner he realized that, the better she would feel.

The smile vanished from his face. “Oh come on now?” He looked deep into her eyes. She was trying to avoid him, he could tell that much, but again, he didn’t care about that either. Even still, he had to stay playful. “You don’t mean that?”

“I don’t have time to play games, Gary. I have work to do.” She sighed. She could feel what he was doing, and she hated him even more for it. It oozed out of him like a runny nose bothers you on a cold day outside, and you didn’t have a Kleenex on you to clean it up.

“What work?” The smile returned on his face.

She sighed again. “I have to check on some blood samples from someone.” She crossed her arms over her chest, trying to do anything that might make him leave. She would do anything to make him realize it, but, like normal, he wasn’t listening to a damn thing she tried to say.

The smile once more left his face as his mind turned over again to the freak. What she’d been doing with him rushed back into his chest. The heat of it felt overwhelming, and he couldn’t keep it contained. “You know?” He turned and walked to the center of the room, and there he stopped and turned back around. The sounds of his boots on the tiled floor echoed around him as he moved. “We should go out again? Maybe when you get some time off from doing, whatever it is you’re doing, we can grab a bite to eat or something?” He tried to make his voice sound pleasing, but felt it fail. He hated that sound as well, but if it was going to help him get her, it felt worth it.

“I’ve already told you, I’m not interested.” She leaned back to the counter behind her.

He put his hands on his hips, and his thumbs went into the belt. “Why not?” He smiled. “Oh yeah, you don’t date people that you work with, that’s right.”

“That’s right.” She tried to sound convincing. She did the best that she could do.

“That doesn’t explain the
rent-a-cop
, though does it?”

With that, she felt almost floored by the comment. “What are you talking about?” A sense of fear welled up inside her heart, and a frog formed instantly in her throat. Not for him knowing she was with Jimmy, for that she could care less if he did, but more for the simple fact that he obviously watched her with him. For that, how dare he do such a thing?

He laughed. “Oh come on, Rachel? I saw the two of you together. You don’t seem to follow your own rules?” He likewise crossed his arms over his chest.

Seeing him do it, only made her uncross her chest and put her hands back to her sides. “You were watching us?” She felt the frog vanish and a heat beginning to buildup in her face and mind. How dare he spy on her? How dare he?

“No one could have missed it.” He uncrossed his arms and walked back to her side. He stopped only a foot or so from where she stood. God, she looked so good, standing there, getting angry with him.

“You have no right.” She turned from him, put her right hand to the counter, and leaned up against it. It took everything she had to keep from striking his goddamn mustache with a fist. She wanted to do it, now more than ever.

“I have every right.” He crossed his arms again over his chest. “I have to protect people here from being around freaks.” His voice rippled with pride.

“You have no right to call him a
freak
.” She sighed, and spun around to face him.

He laughed. “I have every right.” He turned from her, and walked back to the center of the room. “Besides, I don’t have to worry about it anymore anyway.” He stopped, but kept his eyes on the door. Out there, not that far from them now, all of his problems were locked away entirely, and it made his pride swell up, just from the thought of it alone.

Rachel listened and didn’t like what she heard. “What are you talking about?” She didn’t like the sounds of his voice. They made her worried.
If he hurts Jimmy, I will do whatever it takes to set that hurt right. How dare he do anything? How freaking dare he do it!

“Nothing really.” He turned around and faced her again. “Just that I don’t need to be concerned anymore, that‘s all.” A smiled once again flashed over his face. It wasn’t just a smile, but more of a smirk.

“If you hurt him?” She turned back to him, and felt the heat once again fill her face.

“Tomorrow morning, we should go out?” He took his mind off the freak and returned it back to the matter at hand. He wanted to see her outside again. He wanted it more than anything else he ever did, and he would do anything to get it back again.

She couldn’t believe what she heard, was about to respond to it, but he didn’t give her the chance.

He turned and left the room, and the door closed behind him when he did.

He left her speechless. She now felt consumed by every emotion she had. The heat in her cheeks only exploded across her face. Something felt wrong. Something might be very wrong with her new friend, and she had to find out what that was. She felt worried for him. She felt scared.

She turned from the counter and raced to the door. She ran out into the hallway, and headed to the lobby to find him.

She made it there with only minutes to spare. Coming to the steps, and looking down them, she could barely make out someone sitting at the counter. Seeing movement, her mind instantly calmed. Jimmy had to be there. If he was, it meant that he was all right. Gary was just pushing her buttons like he always did. He tried to make her angry. It explained everything he did. It made sense.

Slowing her stride, she went down the stairs softly, until she came to the bottom step and looked to the counter. A man sat behind it, sitting in the chair, but it wasn’t Jimmy. In fact, she had no idea who it was, but knew it had to be one of Gary’s officers just by seeing what he wore. Seeing him, she grew cautious again, and sighed. Jimmy wasn’t there after all.

“Can I help you?” Reese asked, watching Garland come to him from the opposite side of the counter. He wasn’t expecting to see anyone there, thinking the building was empty, and that showed in his voice. It expressed itself on his face.

Rachel came to the counter and placed both hands to the top of it. She smiled, polite and demur. She recognized the sounds of his voice. It told her that he didn’t expect to see her there. He also looked surprised. “I was looking for the security guard that works here nights?” She felt the heat buildup again in her face. If Jimmy was somewhere in the building, she needed to find that out quickly. “I was wondering if you’ve seen him.”

Reese smiled and shook his head. “Not a peep from him.” He laughed some. It sounded subtle, but it was still there. “I think he called in for the night? I haven’t seen him.”

She could hear him sigh. She took the time to search him for any clue if he was lying to her or not. She looked him in the eyes and looked over his face, but so far, she couldn’t tell for sure, if he was or wasn’t. Either way, she didn’t believe that Jimmy would have called in sick like he just said he did. She knew that he felt excited to see her again. He wanted her help, but with that said, she didn’t know either way and had to accept it at that. “Thank you.” She turned from the counter and walked back to the stairs.

“No problem.” He watched her leave and sighed. He took a deep breath.

She reached the stairs and took the left railing into her hand, and looked back towards the counter. There, behind it, something caught her attention almost instantly. A thermos sat there, and it immediately forced the fear to explode through her heart again.
Jimmy had a green thermos with a white cap that he brought with him when we went to breakfast.
She knew she was right, and seeing it, it made her pause.
He had it this morning. If it’s here, than so is he?

Reese noticed her pause at the stairs. “Can I help you with something else?” He spun around in his chair. He could see that she was looking behind him, so he tried to turn, but she answered him before he could complete it.

“No, I’m fine.” She noticed him turn and started to the next step. Seeing the thermos answered all of her fears. His reaction to her being there helped with the feeling. He lied to her. He looked surprised to see her there looking for him. It also explained everything that Gary said to her too. It all said one thing. They had him. They did something with him. They must have him somewhere in the building. Thinking that, and worse yet, knowing it, her mind gasped.
Why would they do that? What are they doing it for?
Everything made her feel rushed, so much so, she could barely stand it.

He watched her leave and head back up the stairs. As soon as she left, he turned to the back of the counter and saw the thermos sitting there, behind him. It immediately made his mind wake up. It had to be what she saw. He just didn’t know what that meant, unless…
It must be the freaks. Son of a bitch!
He turned from the thermos and back to the center of the counter. He picked up the phone, and dialed for line three.

Gary answered his call.

“We have a problem?” He sighed. He blinked. They’ve been found out.