HER CARE

Chapter Fifteen: The Syringe, Caleb's Narrative

I remain dumbfounded as Arias shocking revelation about Graces leukemia sends shivers down my spine.

"The doctor suspects she's been purposefully injecting herself with next-level gene-altering drugs, he also said he's never seen anything like this before in his entire career" Aria asserts in a disappointed sigh, struggling to recall the doctors exact sentiments as she reports.

After a few minutes of silence go by, she turns to face me and her brown eyes frantically search mine for a response, but I seem to have departed from my intellect. I can't formulate a coherent sentence in this moment for the life of me, and my wondrous mind remains spinning in overdrive with so many probabilities of what could be.

What the fuck is this deranged woman up to?

"Fuck!" I finally breathe in realization, after minutes go by, my eyes widening as I seat up and Aria cringes at my foul mouth but quickly recovers before questioning my vulgar retort.

"What, Caleb?" she exclaims mimicking my movements.

"Aria, the bloody fucking syringes!" I bellow in anger, running my left hand through my hair

"What syringes?" she asks, her eyes narrowing in question

"The ones Lisa used to inject us with every week! The ones we now get every month! The ones she said were fucking nutritional supplements" I yell

"Shhh! Keep it down! Caleb! They are going to hear us" she directs before continuing "What about them, explain!" still not catching on

"You said the doctor thinks she has drugs in her system right?"

"Yes"

"He said those drugs are foreign and he's never seen anything like them in his entire career, yes?"

"Co....co..rrect" she stammers as the realization slowly hits her and her then narrow eyes start to widen

"The fucking drugs caused her leukemia, we're her fucking ginnea pigs Aria!" I expel and she shudders as noticeable goosebumps riddle her skin.

Now she's the speechless one

Aria and I spend the rest of the night awake, staring away at the ceiling in quiet and shock. If we're indeed Grace's guinea pigs, what is her motive? Now more than ever I need to get to the bottom is this. Even if it's the last thing I do.

The next morning, I dash back to my room after Aria and I exchange hesitant good mornings. 30 minutes of packing and showering later, I bolt my way to the hotel lobby for checkout with the rest of the student body.

Aria soon arrives after I complete checkout, seemingly disoriented. Her wet and droopy hair signaling that she just got out of the shower. This is not a common tendency of hers. She's always so poised and well put together, that's why Grace grew so fond of her. They have that in common.

She quickly checks out as well and soon after, the chaperons begin directing us to the buses headed to the airport for boarding. Aria and I board the plane without uttering a single word to one another and I don't bother to probe her. This continues until we get to the mansion.

"Caleb, not a word about the ridiculous assertion you made last night" Aria warns as we begin to unload our bags from the back of the van.

"What?" I question loud enough to communicate my shock whilst ensuring that Cornelius doesn't hear us talking. Being back at the mansion means being back to the strict rules. We can't be found talking to one another.

"You heard me, mother trusts me" she planes

Mother? Where is she going with this?

"And she won't be too happy to hear about your little hypothesis" she flusters before speedily walking into the mansion where she is greeted by an excited Lisa and Monotone Grace. I can see nothing has changed.

Did she just threaten me?

I walk passed their pretentious welcome in silence, not returning Lisa's loud call for me, and head straight to my room, immediately slamming the door behind me.

I don't understand Aria. It's like Grace has her under a spell or something. One minute she gains her senses and another she's back to being Grace's lap dog. I should have known not to ever trust her! She's nothing like Chloe was.

Chloe, she's one of the reasons why I won't ever give up on figuring out what's going on in this fucked up mansion. With or without Aria, I will figure it out.

The next morning, I make my way to an empty breakfast table.

"Caleb, you're thirty minutes early for breakfast" Lisa's voice echoes from the left side of the room. Her obnoxious yellow outfit contrasting heavily against the white lab coat that hovers over the horrendous yellow pantsuit she wears. " Did you forget your regimen?" she adds.

I can no longer hide my disdain for this woman, so I fight against the overarching urge to slap her across the face and instead elect to turn around and walk back to my room in silence.

"Caleb, you weren't always this defiant, I mean you didn't even say hallo back to us when you arrived yesterday" she states, gently grabbing my elbow to stop me dead in my tracks.

Is she fucking kidding me. For I spilt second I debate grabbing the meat knife on the table and slicing at her throat but once again an unexpected wave of reason clouds my dark thoughts. She's lucky, again.

"Caleb, look at me, are you okay" She asks, pretending to be worried as she forcefully takes my chin in her palms.

There were times when this embrace made me feel safe, when the desperate look in her eyes made me feel cared for. Those times are gone, I'm no longer that childish little boy who yearned for the safety of a motherly embrace.

"Caleb answer me" she reiterates

The nerve you have to ask. You've been killing us slowly and now you care about our well-being?

"I didn't realize we could talk back now" I froth

"Caleb don't play smart with me, I can see through all your bullshit" she belts through her clenched teeth

Oh now the claws are coming out

"In not in the mood for games" I state, forcefully breaking free from her embrace before quickly turning away and suddenly I feel a stinging sensation in the triceps of my left arm but before I can comprehend anything, my body thumps to the floor in numbness.

Moments Later...

I slowly open my eyes to a blurred vision of Lisa in what appears to be another ridiculous pant suit, this time its plaid. Moments pass as I struggle to retain my consciousness but I can make out a phone conversation between what seems to be Lisa and Grace.

"I don't know I panicked, I just had to subdue him!" Lisa exclaims as an angry British accent bellows through the receiver in retaliation.

"He's been stabilizing for longer than usual.... He's coming in and out of consciousness.... it's been six days"

What?! Six fucking days? You've got to be kidding me.

"I think we will need a defibrillator, we're slowly losing him" she cries "and you know very well that we can't afford to lose another one under the same circumstances" she further states.

My eyes shut down to vivid flashes of my colorful childhood. I can see my dark-haired mother and her warm blue eyes rocking a then one year only me in her arms before my dad suddenly storms into the room in an angry fit. From the huge white letters that spell my name in decorative italics at the top of the rocking chair my mom now seats on, it seems we're in my nursery. My mom gently sets me down into my crib before turning to face my dad. They have an angry exchange of words for a couple of minutes before my dad proceeds to slap my mom across the face, so hard it lands her on the floor.

The loud thud as her body hits the ground suddenly coincides with the screams of a frantic Lisa.

"Clear!" she shouts as a cold metal compress hits my chest, and just like that, my once colorful childhood turns dark, mimicking my reality.