The Adventures of Will Irving: Automaton Trouble

Chapter 25

As Will finally pulled into his driveway and turned off the car, he felt the heavy tension in his shoulders fade away, and he breathed a little sigh of relief. He turned his head slightly to check on Claire, who had rested her head on his shoulder and cried herself to sleep during the drive home. Will sat there motionless, gazing at Claire's tear-streaked face, and he felt a deep longing. More than anything, Will wished that he had been able to stop all of this from happening to her. He wished that he could have rescued Arthur. He wished that he could have kept Claire from being kidnapped. He wished that she had been able to surprise her father with a warm embrace that night she had arrived home on vacation. Only one thought eased Will's troubled mind: Claire was sitting here safely by his side. At least he had been able to keep that much of his word.

As Will sat there pondering, he was again reminded of how deeply he cared for Claire. This courageous, intelligent, talented, sensitive, sweet, beautiful woman had captivated his heart and mind. Will smiled slightly and studied Claire's face one last time. He then quietly opened his door and slowly slid out of the car, carefully supporting Claire's head so as not to wake her. Will reached over and gently lifted Claire into his arms and out of the car. She stirred slightly but did not awaken. Will used his back to shut the car door as quietly as he could and then made his way to the front door of the house.

As Will ascended the stairs to the porch, the door opened, and Hank's smiling face welcomed him inside. Max, who was standing nearby, greeted Will with a congratulatory nod. Will greeted his friends with a smile and then quietly made his way upstairs to the spare room that Claire had been using over the past few days. He carefully lowered Claire onto her bed and then knelt beside her. Will gently brushed her hair from her face and then caressed her cheek on the place where the tears had left their greatest mark. He smiled sadly and then quietly rose and left the room, closing the door behind him.

"How the hell did you do it?!" Hank asked excitedly after having welcomed Will into the living room with a giant bear hug. "It's not even midnight yet!"

"Quit making me sound like such a hero...because I'm not," Will said disappointedly as he flopped down on the sofa.

"What are you talking about? Claire's upstairs, isn't she?" Hank replied with a puzzled expression. "That makes you a hero in my book!"

"What happened, William?" Max asked, seeing that something was troubling Will.

"It was like something from a storybook, Max," Will answered, shaking his head sadly.

Hank finally realized that something was seriously bothering his friend, and he, too, became serious.

"What is it, Will? What happened out there?" Hank asked.

"I got to the warehouse, and Moe had Claire tied up in a chair," Will began to recount. "I told him the truth...how we were at the Emporium and saw the black automaton break in. He didn't believe me though, and he threatened to kill Claire if I didn't tell him where Art was. That's when Art actually showed up, and all hell broke loose."

"Wait?! Art was there?" Hank asked in surprise.

"Yeah. Julius brought him to the warehouse...said he turned himself in and demanded to see Moe," Will continued. "Anyway, Art brought a bomb with him...I guess he must have sold that idiot, Julius, on the idea that it was the secret project Moe had been trying to get his hands on in the first place...and he tells Moe to let him and Claire go or else he'll blow the whole place up with us all inside. Moe took his sweet time deciding, and for a moment there, I thought we were all goners. That's when that black automaton crashed the party...literally. It busted a door down and killed Moe's guy, Danny. Everyone scattered and started shooting, but the automaton was too quick...just like at the Emporium. Then someone starts shooting into the room from outside...probably the same mystery person from the roof at the Emporium. It was chaos, fellas, but somehow I managed to make it to Claire and get her free. We were about to make our escape when Claire spotted her dad on the far side of the room. I think he may have been shot because he didn't want us to come for him. Julius started shooting at us, and that's when I got Claire the hell out of there. We finally made it to the car, and I started to drive away. That's when the building exploded..."