Carl： Caveman Instinct series 2.5(5)

“Carl.” He said between chuckles.

“What?” I snapped at him.

“Carl. That’s my name. Doctor Carl Silverman. You may call me whatever you like.”

 “How about Wanker, Arsehole, or Dickhead? And I’m sure others will come to me.” I think this ‘Carl’ has escaped from being committed. I hoped he hadn’t hurt anyone when he left the hospital and took some poor guy’s car. I shouldn’t have called him all those things. What had Carl done? I didn’t want him to hurt me. Weird. Why hadn’t I thought about him hurting me before? Oh what the hell is going on? What is wrong with me? I wasn’t acting at all rational or responding like a normal person who’d been kidnapped. Something definitely wasn’t right.

Carl’s laugh deepened. “You have quite the potty mouth.” He chuckled. “No one has spoken to me the way you are now in many, many, years.”

I needed to figure out what was going on. Maybe I’d fallen asleep and this was a dream? “Well maybe if they did you would have sought help sooner.” I knew I should shut up. If I was thinking and acting rationally I wouldn’t antagonize the crazy guy, but for some reason he just got to me. I wasn’t usually a fighter or snarky like I was being with Carl, but I didn’t feel like he would hurt me.

“Help for what?” He raised his brow.

Leaning over I patted his thigh. “It’s okay Carl. I promise if you take me back to the hospital so I can be with my sick mother, I will not tell the authorities about this little mishap.” Maybe a caring approach might work better.

“I’m not insane!”

Shrinking back in the seat at his shout, I decided to stay quiet and let him calm down.

Carl connected the phone to a wireless Bluetooth. “Call Duncan.”

The phone replied. “Calling Duncan.”

The line picked up on the second ring and a man that looked a lot like Carl, but an older version came onto the screen. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt? Dying? You never call.”

I eyed the phone and debated what my chances were of grabbing it and calling the police for help.

“Don’t even think about it.” I jumped and glanced at Carl in time to see him shake his head at me, before turning back to the road. “I’m calling my brother so you’ll believe me. If you touch this phone I will pull the car over and restrain you. Do you understand?”

Holy crap. I nodded. I didn’t want to be restrained and I didn’t trust that that was all he’d do to me. I may have felt weirdly towards Carl, but I still had some common sense. The little freedom I had was better than the alternative.

“Carl, what the hell are you talking about?” The guy on the phone asked.

“Duncan, I’ve found my mate. You were right; the curse is real.”

Duncan’s whole face lit up on the screen in a huge smile. “Congratulations brother. When did this happen? Is this why you haven’t called us back. We’ve been trying to call.”

“No this isn’t why I didn’t call. I only found her about fifteen ago.”

“What! How are you talking to us? Why are you so rational? Are you sure it’s the curse, er, um, gift?”

This time Carl’s laugh was hollow sounding. “Oh it’s the curse. I think I’m not all caveman because I didn’t fight the curse. I let it take over. It’s why I’m now about to get on the highway and go to our family cabin. I kidnapped my mate.”

“Oh fuck. What do you mean by kidnapped?” The guy Duncan, didn’t sound concerned, more annoyed, curious, and he still looked happy.

Carl sighed. “I’d just finished a double shift and was walking to my car when I spotted her on the phone. Well, first I heard her voice and I became instantly awake and my exhaustion left me, and I just knew who that voice belonged to. Then I saw her and the curse took over. I let it. One thing I have learnt thanks to my nephews is just go with what the gypsies gave us. Don’t fight it or try to give your mate time to adjust.”

Duncan groaned and the smile slipped. “Dustan isn’t fighting it. Cassie has done a runner. Besides torturing her family for the info on where she is, which I think Dustan will do once he has everything in America set, he’s coming back to Australia so he can pursue her. Stephan didn’t put up a fight, Jade was too young to just take, and Richard’s Bailey was the same.” Duncan moaned and a horrified look came over his face. “Please tell me she isn’t under age?”

I watched and listened, not believing what I was hearing. The whole family sounded like lunatics. I needed to escape. Right then I didn’t care if the man was a Silverman or not. I felt like I’d stepped into the twilight zone. I should feel scared. Terrified. But for some reason, I was just angry, confused, annoyed, and frustrated. The longer I sat in the car, the more I started to think that there was not just something wrong with Carl, there was definitely something wrong with me.