unfortunate ➸ primeval

Chapter 13

Clara rolled over and stretched her arm out to reach for Stephen, but he wasn't there. She snapped her eyes open. His side of the bed was cold and empty, so she sat up briskly. "Stephen?" She called. When he didn't answer, panic began to rise in her stomach. "Stephen?"

Relief washed over her when he padded out of his bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist and water dripping off him. "Yeah, we'll be there as soon as we can," Stephen said into his phone. "Okay. Bye." He hung up and turned around, eyes widening when he found Clara sat straight in his bed, gaze hard and arms folded across her chest. "What?"

"You scared me!" She whined. "Where were you?"

"I was in the shower," he said, as though it was obvious. "Where did you think I was?"

"I don't know!" Clara sighed. "But that was what scared me. I thought you'd left me all alone. And after the nightmare I'd had. . ."

"No," Stephen shook his head, water droplets landing on the bed as he sat down next to her. "Of course not. Though, Nick has just called me asking where we are. He wants us to help him, Abby and Connor lay traps for the Smilodon this morning."

"A Smilodon?" Clara repeated. "That's what we're dealing with? God, those things are born killing machines."'

"Which is why we need to lay traps," Stephen continued. "And why I need to get dressed."

"What am I supposed to wear?" Clara raised her eyebrows as Stephen walked over to his wardrobe and sifted through his clothes. He looked at her over his shoulder.

"You could always wear that," he suggested. "I think you look pretty good."

"Yes," Clara said sarcastically. "I'm sure Nick would be really pleased if I showed up today in just a t-shirt."

Stephen chuckled, throwing a bottle-green t-shirt over his head, followed by a long-sleeved white shirt. "Fine," he relented. "We can stop off at your house on the way out. But you'll have to change in the car, otherwise Cutter may feed us to the Smilodon."

"Great," Clara muttered, dragging herself from his bed.

——

As it turned out, changing into a skirt and tights wasn't the easiest thing to do in a moving vehicle - but Clara somehow managed it. She now sat on a bench at the amusement park near the paintball area, looking at a map with Stephen, Nick and Abby. Stephen pointed to one area on the map of the amusement park. "There," he tapped it, and then glanced at the other map. "If we lay a second trap there, we'll have the whole area covered."

"Okay," Nick nodded. "Take Connor with you."

The slamming of a car door made them all turn around, watching as Valerie strode towards them. "Ah, got it fixed," Stephen smiled at her.

"What?" She frowned.

"The van," he elaborated.

Valerie took a fleeting look at the van as she remembered the night before. "Yeah, it seems to be working fine now. What are you doing here?"

"We're just working out where to lay traps," Nick answered. Valerie's face dropped. "Don't worry, we'll leave the place looking as good as new."

"Surely you should be looking by the railway," she told them, uneasiness in her tone. Clara narrowed her eyes slightly; Valerie wasn't acting very normal.

"No, it won't stay there," Nick said. "Too many people."

Valerie spun on her heel and stormed back towards her van. Exchanging a glance with Cutter, Stephen jogged after her. "Whoa, Valerie! Valerie, what's wrong?" He asked, resting a hand on her back to stop her.