Unleashed (17 page)

TWENTY-TWO

The plan was set. That night, Logan was meeting Ethan at Eddy’s to put the software onto his phone that would make it possible for him to clone another person’s cellphone. Claire didn’t ask where Logan got it from or how he knew how to do it. He had more friends than she would ever have, and she knew some of them were kind of shady.

              When Ethan and Logan were finished, they were going to go home and clone their fathers’ cell phones. Both boys agreed to spend all night if needs be, searching through the information, looking for any evidence about Gage or the secret testing.

              It was almost midnight. Claire’s room was dark and cold. Her old comforter was pulled tight to her chin, but she still couldn’t get warm. She was hoping she would’ve heard something from Ethan or Logan by now, but the only texts she’d received were from Kate who was wondering the same thing.

              Finally, at almost one in the morning, Logan texted to the group:
I’ve got nothing. Searched his entire phone. Sorry. Ethan?

Ethan responded back a few seconds later.
Still looking. There’s a lot of information on here. It may take all night. You guys go to sleep. I’ll see you at school. Come early. Meet in the same place as before.

Claire’s heart sank. There was no way she was going to sleep, not knowing that Gage had been at her house only the night before. Her eyes instinctively went to her window. She imagined him placing his bloodied hand upon the glass and shivered. She almost considered running into her mother’s room, but she hadn’t done that since she was four-years-old.

Just then she received a private text from Ethan.
Don’t worry.
We’ll figure this out. You’ll be safe soon. I promise.

Claire inhaled deeply. She stared at the words for a long time, mouthed them quietly over and over until she finally fell asleep.

The next morning, Claire thought she would be the first person to enter the stage prop room, but Logan was already waiting. He stood up when he saw her.

“Hey,” she said and closed the door behind her.

“Get any sleep?” he asked.

“Eventually. You?”

“Not really.”

She walked over to him and joined him next to the cardboard tree. “I can tell.” She reached up and smoothed down a section of his hair that was sticking up in the back. She hadn’t realized how close they were until her eyes met his. She inhaled a sharp intake of breath. He lifted his hand as if he was going to touch her cheek, but she stepped back just as the door opened.

Ethan stopped momentarily when he saw them, but then continued into the room and closed the door. “I thought I’d be the first one here.”

“I think we’re all anxious to know what you found,” Logan said.

Ethan’s shoulders dropped, and he shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t find anything real valuable, and I searched everything. The best I could come up with was a list of all the labs and the employees who work in them.”

“How does that help?” Claire dropped onto the giant Styrofoam rock, her mouth falling open. This was going to take a lot longer than she hoped.

Ethan walked over and kneeled on one knee in front of her. “Because we can use it to narrow down who you overheard in the hall that day.”

“And then clone their phones,” Logan added.

Ethan nodded. “Exactly. There’s a basic description of what each lab does so we can focus on the labs we think might be doing questionable testing. In fact, I think I found it.”

Claire’s eyes lifted to his.

Ethan smiled kindly. “There was a lab that only had a one sentence description. It said something like ‘experimental animal testing involving the human genome’.”

“That sounds like a good place to start,” Logan said. “How many employees work in it?”

“Only three were listed, and one was a girl. You said it was a man and woman you overheard, correct?” Ethan asked Claire.

She nodded. Maybe this wasn’t going to take as long as she thought.

“This will be easy then,” Logan said. “Text me their names, and I’ll see if I can’t find out their schedules. We’ll try to cross paths with them in the parking lot when they get off. If they have their phones on them, we can get them cloned.”

“We can make this even easier,” Ethan said. “Let’s show up at lunchtime at Bodian. Everyone mostly eats in the cafeteria.”

“And we don’t have to have security clearance to get in there,” Logan added, his voice full of excitement. “We’ll say we’re visiting our dads.”

Claire narrowed her eyes. “But what if you really do run into them?”

Logan shrugged. “We’ll think of something.”

“Anyone who comes in there will be wearing name badges,” Ethan said, “so all we have to do is read the names of the employees who work in the lab. We should be able to find at least one of them with their phone on them. Then whoever we miss, we can get after their shift.”

Just then the door opened with a bang, making them all jump.

“Sorry I’m late,” Kate said, hurrying in with her backpack flung over her shoulder.

“You scared us!” Claire said, her heart racing.

“What I miss?” she asked.

“Ethan and I are skipping school after third period,” Logan said.

Kate scrunched her nose. “Since when did you guys become friends?”

Claire stood up and took her by the arm. “I’ll fill you in on the way to class. Come on.”

Before Claire could go out the door, Ethan stopped her. “Stay safe. We’ll meet up with you just as soon as we can.” He gave her a long, hard kiss on the lips, surprising her.

When he finally pulled away, Claire opened her eyes. Over Ethan’s shoulder, Logan was watching them.

TWENTY-THREE

“I hate waiting,” Kate whispered to Claire in English class. “What’s taking them so long?”

Claire shook her head and looked up at the clock. It was just after three. Soon the last bell would sound, and she and Kate would go home. Claire really thought she would have heard something by now, at least that they had found one of the employees in the lunchroom, but she had yet to hear from either Logan or Ethan.

“Have you texted Ethan?” Kate asked.

“Not yet. Let’s give them some more time.”

“Quiet down, girls,” the teacher said from the front of the class. “School doesn’t end for another ten minutes.”

Claire leaned away from Kate. She didn’t want to admit it, but she was worried about Ethan and Logan. What if Bodian somehow found out that Ethan and Logan knew about the missing vials too? Would Bodian actually hurt them to protect their secret? She bit the inside of her lip.
Come on, Ethan, text me.

It was almost an hour later, and Claire still hadn’t heard anything, even though she had texted Ethan right after school. She glanced down at her phone for the millionth time, and then returned to looking outside. The sky was overcast; great clouds hung low in the sky, swollen with moisture. A patrol car was parked across the street.

“Maybe we should drive over to Bodian,” Claire said to Kate who was watching television. “We can see if their car is there. At least then we’ll know where they’re at.”

Kate turned the volume low. “I’m sure they’re fine. They probably just got busy sifting through information or maybe they went and got some lunch.”

“Then why haven’t they texted?” Just as she said it, her phone buzzed.

“That’s them,” Kate said.

Claire looked down. A message from Ethan read:
I sent some documents to your email. Bring them up on your computer. We’ll be there in a few.”

She hurried and grabbed her laptop from her bedroom and carried it into the living room. By the time she had it turned on and her emails downloaded, Ethan and Logan had arrived.

“What took so long?” Kate asked.

Ethan joined Claire on the couch and gave her leg a gentle squeeze. “Did you get my emails?”

“I think so. You’ll have to look through them all to make sure. There’s a lot.”

“The lunchroom was packed,” Logan said. “It took a while trying to read everyone’s name tags.”

“By the looks of all these files, you obviously found someone,” Claire said. She was individually opening the emails from Ethan and dragging the documents onto her desktop.

“Two, actually,” Logan said. “The woman Jessica and a guy named Ryan.”

Claire looked through her faint reflection on the computer screen and stared at all the files. There must’ve been at least thirty. "I just hope we find something we can use against Bodian. I want this to end."

Ethan rested his hand on top of hers. "I’m sure there’s something here we can use.”

"Oh!” Kate said, startling them all. "I forgot to tell you, Claire. We’re practicing Saturday morning. You'll be able to come right?"

Claire tightened her lips. "I don't know. I don't think Smith will let me."

"Since when did he become your dad?" Kate said.

Logan swiveled his head in Kate’s direction. "Have you forgotten there's a psycho after her? She
should
be at home."

Kate picked at her nail. "Gage isn't stupid enough to attack her in public.”

"You don't know what Gage is capable of," Logan snapped.

"Will you guys stop it?" Claire asked. "Let's not think about this weekend right now. Let's just get through today, okay?” 

Her gaze returned to the new files on her computer, potential viruses that could change the world. She still wasn't sure what to do if she found proof of Bodian's strange science experiments. Should she go public? And how does one do that anyway? She pictured herself standing in front of a news camera with a stack of papers accusing Bodian of turning people into monsters. And then she’s shot by a sniper. Inwardly, she groaned. What was she doing?

“Open them up,” Ethan encouraged.

Kate and Logan joined them on the couch.

“How did you know what files to send?” Kate asked.

“We didn’t find anything on the girl’s phone,” Logan said, “but the Ryan guy had a whole folder called Bodian. We just copied everything inside.”

Claire’s finger hesitated over the touchpad, her hand shaking slightly. She took a deep breath and pressed down. A file opened. Her eyes quickly scanned the contents. Notes from a meeting discussing holiday schedules. Nothing helpful.

“Go to the next one,” Ethan said.

Claire moved to open another file, but again she hesitated, afraid of what she might find. Her heart was racing.

“Here,” Logan said. “Let me do it.”

She easily handed over the laptop, stood up, and walked into the kitchen. She rested her hands on the counter and told herself to relax.

“Isn’t there a quicker way to do this?” Kate asked from the living room

“It’s not like painting your nails, Kate,” Logan said. “It’s going to take time.”

Ethan joined Claire while Logan and Kate continued to argue. "We can leave if you’d like.”

"No. I want to stay. Once we get the proof we need, all this will be over."

Ethan’s mouth twisted to a frown. "I don't think it's going to be that easy."

"Why?"

He opened his mouth to speak, but Logan interrupted him.

“I think I found something.”

Claire and Ethan hurried over and sat down. On the screen was a PDF document titled H371. They all took several minutes to read through the four-page report. No one said a word, and Claire knew they were feeling the same way she was: terrified.

When they were finished, Kate was the only one to speak.

"We're screwed."

TWENTY-FOUR

Albert was alone. Whether that was good or bad, he didn't know yet. Claire and the others had parted ways over an hour ago. Like him, they were probably still trying to process what they'd read. The report hadn't given them all the details of the project Bodian Dynamics called H371, but just enough that he was still shaking inside.             

H371 was a program Bodian started over five years ago at the request of a company or a person called Blackbird. Blackbird had paid millions to Bodian. Their whole purpose was to create a person with super-human abilities without a conscience. For what purpose, the report didn’t say, but it did mention unexpected results: something dark and evil had filled the space where a conscience should’ve been. It actually used the word “evil”, which confirmed what Albert thought about Gage.

While the others had discussed what to do next, he had read the report again, specifically looking for any mention of a way to reverse the effects of the compound. This was all that mattered to him now. Gage must be stopped, especially after what Albert had seen him do to Gary.

Albert had tried many times to gain control of Gage while he tortured Gary, but Gage wouldn't let him. Somehow he had managed to keep a mental grip on him, making him watch the massacre. Albert fought, clawing at the fabric of his mind, trying to drag Gage back, but it was useless. Gage was too strong.

There was a moment, when Gary had been covered in blood, when Albert had felt the full scope of Gage's evil. Gage had been in a perfect state of bliss, while Albert was in the worst kind of hell imaginable. And Albert thought he'd be trapped there forever. But then dawn had come and, as darkness retreated, so too had Gage.

The next day Albert had tried to take his own life. That was the only way he could think of to stop Gage from hurting anyone else. He’d picked up a loaded gun from inside his dad’s desk drawer, held it to his head, but no matter what he tried he couldn’t get his finger to pull the trigger. “You can’t destroy me,” was the thought that appeared in his mind. Gage was still with him, but Albert wasn’t sure how close. Could he hear his conversations with Claire? Could he see what Albert saw?

To find out, Albert had tried to communicate with him, had tried different things to elicit a reaction from Gage. But only two things caused his interference: when Albert tried to die or when he tried to tell someone about Gage, which is what he’d tried to do with Claire, or when he tried to go to the police station.

If Gage was that close, Albert wondered why he didn’t just take over. Maybe he needed time to recuperate. Whatever the reason, Albert had to do something to stop him. Who knew how long he had before Gage returned?

Albert turned away from the open window and paced his room. There had to be a way to fix him! He'd been a fool to believe a drug could bury his emotions. Instead, it had awoken a monster.

Albert collapsed on top of his bed and rolled to the side to view his reflection on the opposite wall. It made him sick to look at, and his stomach churned, creating a pain deep inside his gut. Instead of thinking of ways to get rid of the hurt, he thought of Claire. Saw her face. Heard her voice. A calm passed over him and settled his racing pulse. In just a few short minutes, Albert fell asleep.