10/17

Episode 9, Chapter 38

Clint counted down the tics of his watch as he studied the building down the slope. Five days. Five whole days had passed since Laney was forced to some fortified "community" somewhere near Oklahoma City,  with no word from her since. The last week had been one long nightmare of uncertainty and not knowing. While Clint was reasonably certain Laney's life was not in danger, he could not shake the feelings that there was just something really wrong about this whole A-teen outfit.

Predictably, the attack on Laney's house made international news. The reports stated that the family had not been home at the time of the attack and that the fire fighters and police put out the fire and took many of those involved into custody. However, they made a big fuss about how many of the perpetrators, including the ring leaders, were assumed to have fled the scene and were still at large. In the end, it didn't take more than twenty four hours before Laney's name and picture were plastered all over the media.

Before too much of a fuss could be made about her whereabouts, the Clinic spokesperson, along with Laney's mother, released a joint statement saying that the Dempson family had turned to the A-teen program for assistance. They were being voluntarily relocated and Ms. Dempson could not be more grateful or approving of their kindness and efforts to secure her daughter's health and safety. Ms. Dempson become the poster child for the confident, cooperative parent. As expected, this led to a bump in the number of families in the Tulsa area willing to risk the government's help for their Altered teens. In those five days alone, the number of new Altered had nearly doubled his original count from the last three weeks. All of this only cemented the suspicions that swirled through Clint's mind since the moment he recognized Laney's house on the news.

It worried Clint how many of those Altered walked into the Clinic carrying suit cases, only to leave in that unremarkable black sedan he had come to loath so much. The parking lot and door were out of the range he could reach to read emotions, at least for now. So, he could only watch their faces through his binoculars. None of them seemed frightened or forced, but there was no way to know for certain. Had Laney looked terrified when she was forced inside that place? Or had she held her head high and acted above all of it? What was it she called herself, a theater freak? What part would she choose to play, the broken girl? The ice queen? Or maybe, she had smiled and played nice like some of the others he had watched walk in, only to be shuttled away to who knows where.

Clint knew better than to believe he could have changed her fate in anyway, but it didn't stop him from hating himself for how it went down. Fingernails bit into his palms as he tensed at the memory of that day

Laney sent him a text but Clint had been phoning in his weekly check in, reassuring his aunt and brother that he was still doing fine on his own. Only a handful of people had his number. He was on the phone with two of the five and he had just seen two of the other three less than an hour ago. The chances of it being Nurse Donna were pretty slim. So he had not worried about checking the text until his call was over. He couldn't imagine there being an emergency so quickly after parting ways from his Altered friends. Which as why he stood in front of his open refrigerator door, like an idiot, completely confused as he read and reread Laney's cryptic text.

"Call Parker. Goodbye Clint."

That was it. Those were the last things he had heard from her. He tried to text her back but he got no response. He called, but it went straight to voice mail. So, he had done as her text instructed and called Parker. That call had cost him the handle to his refrigerator. He didn't blame Parker for trying to take his anger out on someone. In his shoes, Clint would have done the same thing. And, they did sorted it out, quick enough. Clint would still not call the other boy a friend just yet, not like he counted Laney, anyway. An uneasy truce had blossomed between them, though. At any rate, Clint now had Parker on speed dial, for a quick rescue if he ever needed one. Of course, that had been before Parker's dad had decided to take the whole family "camping" for the week. The idea of a family camping trip in November was apparently not entirely unusual for the Carlisle's, with deer season and all. In reality, it got them out of town, just in case whoever attacked Laney decided to look up other Altered at her school.