The Skylar Experiment : Dead Ending (second draft)

Chapter Fifty-Five - Lion's Den

LUC

ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE WHEN we got home. I tucked Riley to bed with a small bucket for vomit episodes when she couldn't reach the sink. Hearing the choked cries leaking from her lungs every time twisted my guts. Veins along her forearms were stained black, racing up and up her limbs as days stretched on, like acid flowed through them. The rim of her lips had gone black, too, and so did the blood she coughed out. 

At one point, I had no choice but to show up for school, so I asked Tony to check the cabin as often as possible when I attended class. 

"I don't remember you going through this shit," I said over the phone. "Now, she's complaining that her skin itches and burns underneath. I... I don't know what to do. I can't make it go away."

"Believe me, I had the same thing two years ago," Raymond answered. "You weren't there in my apartment to see it, but it was ugly. Sometimes, the painkillers are strong enough to numb the itching, sometimes they're not." 

I grumbled. She didn't always take the medecine because it made her too nauseous. And then, she wouldn't eat. I had to pick the poison, so instead of arguing, I brought her food. More and more, her skin grew hot and clammy when I checked. 

"Just keep doing what you do," he added. "Time will take care of it. It did for me, and I'm still here to ruffle your feathers."

Yeah, sadly. "Is the bracelet coming along?" 

We switched to videocall, and while he saw the background of my yard deck, I saw a glass-paneled wall behind him and a bright blue sky. A leather chair poked above one shoulder as he rotated it. Looks like he found an apartment to stay in nearby, unless it was an expensive hotel room. 

His arms reached out to grab something under the camera's vision. Objects clattered on a worktable, and he showed the bracelet to me, beaming. It had been partly mended, and new, unfinished wirings protruded from the molten section. 

"Yup. It's coming along super well. I haven't gotten to the point of testing it to see if it works, but so far so good. Still hanging in there?"

I squinted at the upper window glinting off the sunlight, at the room where Riley was sleeping with Waffle, last time I checked. 

"This is taking too long. We need to act fast." I paused and set a hand on the railing. My shuffling boots thumped on the wood, disturbing the ice and snow overlaid. "I'm meeting them tonight."

"Dude—"

"I took the deal and there's nothing else I can do. Caldwell won't grill me. She needs me to snoop on her account and find out what Lauren's doing. I just have to be careful, and while I'm at it, I can sneak into their digital files and see what's up with that Skylar bullshit."

The videocall bugged, but when it cleared, Raymond's eyebrows rode up to his hairline. "Oh, really? And how are you going to achieve that, genius?" 

I rubbed my jaw. That was kind of where my plan slipped into vague territory, but where there's a will, there's a way. "I'll see when I get there. It might be a question of opportunity."

"You mean dumb luck?"

"Call it whatever you want," I said, leaning over the rail. "I need another favor."

He rolled his chair closer with a groan. "Gee, I wonder what it'll be now."

"You know they'll ask me to spy on my sister. They're out of options, and they're expecting me to come up with the ideas. I happen to have one, but it involves you." His expression changed, and I conquered an urge to slap him through the screen. "Not that kind of involvment. I'll need another device, a special type of tracker."