Between a Bear and a Hard Place(9)

“Need to go,” he said. “Nothing here.”

Something in his voice was trickling. Sticking, maybe? Was it panic she heard? It made no sense, nothing did. But still, she felt so calm, so at peace. Her normal disposition was nothing at all like this. All the words that could be used to describe Claire Redmon, “calm” wasn’t one of them.

“You’re worried about something, very obviously, Eckert,” Claire said.

Her voice didn’t even feel like her own, it was as though someone else was using her, though she knew that wasn’t true. It was something she’d always wanted to do, but never had the courage.

That’s what I’m feeling. Courage. Of all the...

“Claire! Now!” Eckert grabbed her tighter and yanked on her hand, so hard that a tinge of pain shot through her shoulder. “We need to go!”

“Not until you tell me what’s in here.”

Her voice was steel.

This was not normal, not at all. Not the lab, not how she was acting, none of it made any sense. But at the same time?

“Answer me,” she demanded, once again surprised at the strength of her own voice. “What’s going on in here?”

Eckert had a look of sour disdain on his face that she wasn’t entirely sure he knew she could see. “Oh just come on,” he said, clearly losing his patience. “Don’t be an idiot, girl, you don’t know anything about any of this.”

“Something happened, Sam is gone, and you’re going to tell me what.”

It was like she’d taken three shots of whiskey, but didn’t feel all wonky. This, I could get used to feeling.

Another noise in the back of the room, but Eckert didn’t react. He can’t hear it. He can’t hear what’s going on at all. I wonder if he can see the same motion I can. Can that be right? How is that possible? This is actually happening, isn’t it?

He was tugging at her, and normally, she wouldn’t have been able to resist.

Shouldn’t have been able to resist.

And then the whole world exploded at once.

Whatever was scratching the ground started toward where Claire and Eckert were standing. She heard it, she felt the presence moving toward her, and then she saw them – those eyes. Those golden, glittering eyes. I wasn’t imagining them? One gold, one green. I thought they were both gold?

She shook her head, aware that the room was so dark that Eckert couldn’t even see that, much less the thing creeping in her direction.

Every shred of sense in her brain told her to run, to get away as fast as she could, but the calm in her heart kept her in place. And still, Eckert had no idea that they were sharing a space with anything at all.

She felt something soft, something... furry brush against her ankle where she’d rolled her jeans’ legs up so that they didn’t flop on her feet. Just like “calm”, “tall” was never a word used to describe Claire Redmon.

“What’s in here, Eckert?” she asked again, in the instant before she saw a second pair of eyes, just like the others, one was gold, one was green. But on this pair, the left eye was gold, the right eye green. “Talk.”

“Doesn’t matter,” he said, shivering slightly. “It’s secret. No one’s supposed to be in here except those of us with clearance. Not you, that’s for sure.”

The way he said it made her stomach turn. Normally though she’d be cowed, she’d be afraid, but instead she felt like she wanted to slap him.

So she did.

Sharply, right across his puffy, never-quite-shaved-right cheek.

“Ow! You stupid woman, what the hell was that for?”

That earned him another one.

“Goddamn,” he hissed. “How can anyone be so petulant?”

That earned a scoff instead of a slap. Whatever was creeping around had gathered on either side of her, and whatever it was seemed like it was going to keep her safe, though she had no idea why she thought that.

“I wouldn’t say that sort of stuff again,” she warned him. “I don’t have to put up with it. Not from you, not from anyone.”

“You do if you value your job.”

She let that one slide. “So, what is in here?”

He was pulling at her still, but she grabbed his wrist. “What’s in here, Eckert?” it was less a question, more a demand.

“Let me go,” he said. “If you’re stupid enough to be in here, in the dark, with these things, then they can have you. Let me go!”

“No,” she said, flatly. “Not until you tell me what is going on in here.”

“Experiments, you idiot, what do you think?” he was really trying to pull, but all five-foot-three, hundred-and-sixty-pounds of Claire dug in her heels and held fast. “Let me go!”