unfortunate ➸ primeval

Chapter 15

Clara dragged herself downstairs and into the kitchen, pouring herself a coffee rather than a hot chocolate. She needed the energy after the horrific nightmares she'd had the night before. The nightmares had been a regular occurrence since the incursion with the Smilodon a few weeks ago, but they were common in her job anyway. "Morning, Mike," she yawned as she sat down across from him at the small kitchen table.

"Morning," he replied from behind his newspaper. "Horrible that, isn't it?" He said, lowering the newspaper and pointing at the article he'd just been reading. Clara peered at it. "Three people mauled to death by an escaped lion at the amusement park the other week? It's horrible."

"Yeah," Clara nodded distantly. "Yeah, it is."

"What's wrong?" Michael watched her through narrowed eyes. "You seem a little off."

"Nothing," she shook her head in dismissal, flashing him a smile. She hesitated; she needed to distract her brother so the attention was off her. "Do you want to go out for breakfast? I have the morning off."

"Okay," Mike agreed, shoving his newspaper to one side and grabbing his car keys. "I'll drive us, shall I?"

——

"So how's lover-boy?" Michael asked as he speared a bit of waffle onto his fork.

"He has a name, you know," Clara rolled her eyes fondly. "It's Stephen."

"Fine," Michael shrugged. "How's Stephen?"

"Fine, thanks," she smiled. She swallowed a bit of pancake. "So, have you had your eye on anyone recently?"

Michael shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Well. . ." He started, causing Clara to laugh. 

"There is!" She teased.

"Maybe," he admitted.

"Who is it?" She asked eagerly, but frowned as her phone went off from her pocket. She pulled it out, scanning the message quickly. It was from Nick; another anomaly had been sighted. She stood up abruptly and handed her brother a tenner. "I'm really sorry, Mike, but I have to go. It's Nick," she explained simply.

"I thought you had the morning off?" He frowned.

"Change of plans, I guess," she half-lied. "But we'll continue this conversation later, I assure you. See you later!" Clara swanned out of the breakfast bar, leaving Michael alone.

The familiar silver Toyota four-by-four was stopped outside the breakfast bar, Nick drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. "Oh, about time," he chastised when she climbed in.

"Sorry," Clara apologised as he drove off. "How did you know I was here?"

"A lucky guess of Stephen's," he told her. "He knows you better than you think, you know."

"Are you two getting along now, then?" She asked hopefully. Nick breathed a sharp laugh.

"I wouldn't use the phrase 'getting along'," he said. "But I think we're getting better. I don't know yet. Let's just see how things go."

Cutter pulled up not far away at the Isle of Dogs, stopping near a park with a basketball court alongside. Stephen and Jenny were already there, the latter tapping her heels impatiently as she waited. Clara and Nick clambered out the car, sending grins to the other pair.

"Where have you been?" Jenny demanded.

"Picking up Clara," Nick said easily. "Now, come on. Where did the boy go missing?"

"Missing?" Clara echoed as Jenny led them onto a patch of grass near the basketball court. Nobody answered her.

"Here," Jenny pointed to a deep hole that led to the underground sewer system, or something similar, that no longer had the manhole cover over the top.