My gaze brims with emotion, caught in the distraction of the tears that fill my eyes as I peek at the unnerving sight that is Lisa wielding the defibrillator like a conductor's baton, in a desperate attempt to reignite Caleb's fading heart and I shudder in disbelief.
Not again! No! I scream internally, barging into what was once Chloe's room in a desperate attempt to find a much-needed escape. I haven't been back here since Chloe's death. I couldn't bring myself to do it.
With a telling scent of despair lingering in the air, I grasp one of Chloe's cherished pink comforters, only to witness a syringe, housing an ominous greyish fluid, slipping from the comforter onto the floor. In a frantic rush, I gather it in my trembling hands, now grappling with the shadows of uncertainty that cast a haunting silhouette over my mind.
'Could this be the syringe Grace used the day I found Chloe lifeless in her arms?'
My mind wonders, as it is riddled with painful flashes of that evening. Chloe's once life-filled eyes remained closed shut and her pale skin, blue as the ocean with the only signal of life being the small tears that gripped to the corners of her eyes, as Grace clutched her cadaver in her arms. This is a sight I will never forget. A sight that haunts my memory to the bitter core.
10 Days Later...
Lisa finally managed to restore Caleb, but he remained in critical condition for 5 days. I haven't brought myself to go back to campus either despite desperate attempts to convince me otherwise by Grace and Lisa. I want to stay by Caleb's side. Now more than anything, we need to stick together.
I opt for a soak in a piping hot evening shower, envisioning the steam whisking away the inner turmoil that's been gnawing at my core. It's the lengthiest bout of unease I've encountered, underscoring the rugged journey my life has woven thus far.
The gentle touch of my silk nightwear soothes my sore skin while I slip into my pajama shorts. I can't help but chuckle at the recollection of Chloe and I picking these out during our first week of college. She used to playfully tease that her English literature professor would one day be taking them off her. Even though I knew it was just a whimsical fantasy of hers, drawn from the uncanny resemblance she found between him and her beloved fictional character, Alec d'Urberville, I always had a feeling she would some how figure out a way to act on her perverted thoughts.
I take a seat at my study table and tackle a stack of assignments. Ensuring good grades is a crucial expectation at the Claire Grace Foundation. Especially for me.
At 8:50 pm, I check my phone, and thoughts of Caleb's well-being instantly cross my mind. I haven't had the opportunity to visit or talk to him since he regained consciousness because Lisa has been watching him like a hawk.
After resisting the urge to check on him for a few minutes, the persistent voice in my mind prevails. Succumbing to curiosity, I quietly tiptoe towards his room, striving to make minimal noise. Following the third door on the left, I gently knock and he answers.
"Hey, how are you?" I whisper
"Good" he responds plainly
"May I please come in?" I invite
"No" he retorts, proceeding to close the door but I slide my arm in before he manages
"Please, I need to talk to you, to know how you're doing" I appeal
"Well I just told you in fine" he dismisses
"Caleb please, I won't be long" I insist
"Oh so now you care?" he sarcastically remarks
"I've always cared Caleb, please let me in before Lisa finds me here" I emphasize and he stares at me in conflict for a few seconds before allowing me into his room.
Oh how the tables have turned. I'm not welcome here and I can tell.
"Is it okay if I seat?" I ask patting at the edge of his bed and he nods
"Caleb I'm sorry about the other day, I can explain"
"I don't need your explanations Aria" his raspy tone of apathy sending shivers down my spine.
Caleb seems very indifferent. It's been 10 days since we got back from London, 10 days since we last saw each other after his near-death experience. Granted his indifference is warranted. I betrayed him. Or so he thinks.
"I know you feel betrayed by what I said when we got back to the mansion, but I can explain, it was the only way I thought I could get you to stir clear of Grace" I confess but he doesn't budge.
"I could tell from what you said at the hotel that you were furious and I thought my best option to try and stop you from acting on your anger irrationally would be to make you think I wasn't on your side, to make you think that I would sabotage you" I sigh and he looks up at me
"I know it was dumb of me to do so but I couldn't think of anything else at the time" I explain " Plus you're not the easiest person to reason with when you are dead set on something" I add trying to lighten up the conversation but failing miserably when my attempt is overlooked
"Aria if you have nothing more to say to me you can leave" he sloths
" Caleb, I want to make it clear to you that I'm not on Grace's side, I simply said that to you thinking it would buy me some time to come up with a concrete plan before you reacted upon your determinations, I didn't want to risk losing you like I lost Chloe, you're all I have" I reveal turning away from him as I slide off the edge of his bed to rest on the carpet, now facing the door, "I thought I could use the fact that I work closely with Grace to gather more Intel on her and what could possibly be going on, but clearly I failed, they nearly got you too"
Confessing to Caleb that he's my sole safety net isn't as tough as I anticipated. Despite our past differences, a mysterious shift has occurred, and I now harbor a strong sense of protectiveness over him. Losing him is something I desperately want to avoid.
"I don't understand why you couldn't just tell me this before Aria" he asserts walking over to me before plopping himself next to me
"Well we haven't always seen eye to eye, heck up until recently, we'd never even as much as tolerated each other's presence, plus I mean it when I say you're a little impulsive" I state
"I agree" he chuckles and I shock
"Wow you're not one to yield so easily, are you sure you're okay?" I giggle playfully placing the back of my hand against his forehead as if to check his temperature and he laughs
"Well don't get used to it" he playfully retorts "So what's your plan?" he asks
"I'm not sure; my mind just went blank when I thought you might not make it." I assert and his facials display slight smile
"I didn't know you cared so much" he argues
"Now you know" I retort as our eyes meet "Plus you are right about the patterns, I too was drugged out of consciousness for two days after Lisa gave me my weekly dose" I reveal
"What!?" he stuns
"Yes, I woke up to Lisa and Grace panicked, questioning each other on what could have been wrong with the concoction I received that morning before breakfast" I sigh
"Those bastards! Fuck!"
"Plus, there's something I haven't told you"
"What?"
"The night Chloe died, she texted asking me to meet her at the Library basement because she had found something weird there, when I didn't find her at our designated meeting spot, I went to her room where I found Grace clutching her dead body" I assert
"What the Fuck, I've always known Chloe's death wasn't from natural causes, it has Grace written all over it"
"I can confirm this, the other day when Lisa was trying to resuscitate you, I ran to Chloe's room and just as I wrapped her pink comforter around my body, a syringe filled with a greyish-looking fluid fell to the ground, I suspect it's the one she used that night"
"It all makes sense, that fucking cunt drugged Chloe to death because she was getting too close to uncovering the truth, similar to Lisa's attempt on both you and I." Caleb asserts as the heinous realization hits him.
YOU ARE READING
HER CARE
Mystery / ThrillerA plot-twisting Cryogenic thriller about a middle-aged woman of British descent with a demented past who adopts twelve children and orchestrates their fate in horrifying ways. Claire Grace manages to do all this under the facade of being one of Phoe...
